Mistake of Our Lives
by amksschristian
Summary: AU. Jamie and Eddie meet in high school. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_**A/N: AU. Jamie and Eddie meet in high school. Set in modern time because I don't feel like making it in the 90s. Enjoy :) **_

Jamie walked into Central Park High School. He couldn't believe it was the first day of his senior year. He was finally almost done with high school. Then he could go on to college and law school.

Jamie went through all of his classes with so much ease. He had a fairly easy schedule. He had English, College Algebra, and US Government as his first 3 periods and they were all in the downstairs A wing. Then he had soccer 4th period, and lunch 5th period. He had a free period for 6th, Environmental Science 7th period, and Spanish 8th.

He had seen most of his friends throughout the day, and he had a lot of them in his classes. The only period he didn't have anyone in was 8th period. He didn't really mind all that much because his teacher put him next to this really hot blonde.

"My name's Jamie. What's yours?" Jamie asked his table partner.

"My name's Edit, but I go by Eddie." She said shyly.

"Edit? I've never heard of that name."

"It's the Hungarian version of Edith."

"Cool. Are you new here, or have you always gone here? I've never seen you before."

"Yeah, I'm new."

"How do you like it so far?"

"It's alright, I guess. I don't know anyone. I don't really have any friends."

"Well, now you know one person."

Eddie smiled slightly. She liked Jamie. He was cool.

They made it through the class together, and after class, Jamie gave her his number.

"Just in case you ever want to hang out or something. Anyway, I've gotta go, I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you."

Eddie put Jamie's number into her phone a few moments after he'd given it to her. She texted him 'Hey it's Eddie' so he had her number. He replied with a simple smiling emoji.

Eddie and Jamie both knew this was gonna be the start of a great friendship.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A couple of months had passed, and Eddie and Jamie had grown much closer. They'd hang out pretty often and Jamie was considering asking Eddie to be his girlfriend.

"How was practice?" Eddie asked, as she and Jamie sat down in a quaint dinner that was a couple blocks away from the high school. They'd been going to that diner since the second week of school.

"It was fun. Really hard, but fun. We have Regionals next week. Are you gonna come?" Jamie answered.

"Um, probably. I'm not sure. My dad wants to take us to Jamaica for an early Christmas present. If we end up going, we'd be leaving on Thursday."

"Oh." He said, sounding slightly disappointed.

"I'm not really sure if I want to go. I've been to Jamaica like 4 times."

"Really? 4 times!"

"Yeah. You've been to my house, clearly we're not lacking in money."

"Yeah, but 4 times. I've never even been once."

"Well, I've been to Belize like 7 times. Multiple islands in the Caribbean, Hawaii 3 times, Casta Rica twice, and the Dominican Republic once. That's just tropical places. I've been to lots of other countries in Europe and Asia."

"Wow, way to rub it in."

"Sorry. Sometimes I forget my lifestyle is so different that other people's. I'm not trying to brag. To be honest, I really wish we didn't travel all the time."

"Then don't go."

"I wish it was that easy. Plus, I have no one to stay with. I mean yeah I'm almost 18 but my parents would never let me stay home alone for more than a week, and they'll probably be gone for at least two."

"This is probably gonna sound totally crazy, but what if you stayed at my house? My oldest brother and sister moved out awhile ago, so we have 2 empty rooms. You could stay in one of them for a couple weeks until your parents get back."

"Haha, very funny." Eddie said, thinking Jamie was joking.

"I'm not kidding, Eddie. I mean I'd have to talk to my parents about it, but I don't see why not."

"You're serious? You really want me to stay at your house?"

"Eddie, of course I'm being serious."

"I don't know, Jamie. I don't want to burden your family, especially with it being close to Christmas."

"Eddie, you wouldn't be a burden. You already know my mom and dad like you. I think they'd say yes. In fact, why don't we go ask them right now."

"We haven't even ordered yet." Eddie pointed out.

"My mom's probably already making dinner. To make it up to you, I'll buy you a milkshake next time we come here. Is that ok?"

"Yeah, let's go."

The pair left in Jamie's car and drove over to the Regan household. There were two cars in the driveway, Danny's and Joe's. Frank and Mary's car was presumably in the garage.

"Hey mom." Jamie said as he walked in to the house through the side entrance. "I brought Eddie with me, if that's ok."

"Yes, baby, that's fine." Mary said.

Eddie walked in behind Jamie and gave Mary a quick hug.

"How're you, Eddie?" Mary asked.

"I'm good. How about you?" Eddie answered.

"I'm good dear. What brings you over? Jamie didn't mentioned you'd be coming over."

"Well, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing."

"We wanted to ask you and dad something." Jamie spoke up.

"Well, your father's still at work, but you can ask me."

"Well, Eddie's parents are going out of town soon and Eddie doesn't really want to go with them. She said they won't let her stay at home by herself for more than a week, and they're gonna be gone for awhile. We were wondering if she could stay with us."

"Where are they going, dear?" Mary asked Eddie.

"Jamaica. It's one of my dad's favorite places."

"How long are they gonna be gone for?"

"At least two weeks, but probably longer. They usually like to stay in tropical places during the winter. I don't really know why they moved us here because they both hate the cold and winter in New York is always cold."

"I'd have to talk to Frank, but I don't really see why you can't stay here. You could stay in Erin's room."

"Really? Thank you."

"You're very welcome, dear."

Jamie and Eddie went up to Jamie's room after that, and watched some mindless reality TV show that happened to be on.

"Eddie, have you ever thought about what it would be like if we dated?" Jamie asked, as they sat on his bed together. He'd finally built up enough courage to ask her.

"I've thought about it. Why?"

"I'm just gonna be honest, I really like you. You're smart, funny, beautiful, sweet. You're such an amazing person and I've never felt this way about anyone before."

Eddie blushed slightly. "I really like you too. I wanted to tell you sooner but I was scared you didn't feel the same."

"So, are we gonna try this out? The whole boyfriend and girlfriend thing?"

"Yeah, I mean I don't necessarily know if we need the labels but yeah. I like you, you like me, let's see where this goes."

Jamie smiled at here, and slowly leaned closer to her. He put his hands at the base of her head and softly kissed her. She returned the kiss. It was sweet and soft, with a hint of passion.

"I've wanted to do that for awhile." Jamie said.

Eddie kissed him again and their sweet moment only ended when Joe knocked on Jamie's door.

"Jamie, mom said dinner's ready." Joes said on the other side of the door.

"Ok, I'll be down in a minute." He responded. "Are you gonna stay for dinner?"

"Can I? I don't want to intrude."

"Yeah, my mom loves having guests."

"Ok, sure."

The new couple walked downstairs and helped Mary set the table. Once everything was prepared, they sat down at the table. Frank has gotten home, and he was sitting in his usual seat. Danny and Joes were sitting next to each, and Mary was sitting in the right of Frank. Eddie was sitting in Erin's usual spot, and Jamie was sitting next to her. Linda was sitting in between Jamie and Danny.

"Who wants to say grace?" Frank asked. Linda offered. After grace, everyone began eating.

"So, your mother told me what you two asked her, Jamie." Frank said to his youngest son.

"Is it alright?" Jamie asked.

"Yeah, I don't see why not."

"What did Jamie ask you Mom?" Joe asked.

"He and Eddie asked if Eddie could stay here while her parents are out of town. I said yes." Mary told her son.

"Oh, cool. Where are your parents going?" Joes asked Eddie.

"Jamaica. Originally, I was gonna go with them, but I don't really want to." Eddie said.

"Who doesn't want to go to Jamaica, especially when it's snowing and 20 degrees outside here?" Danny asked.

"I've been to Jamaica before. I didn't want to go again." She said, leaving out exactly how many times she's been.

Conversation continued throughout dinner, until dinner was over. Danny's and Linda went home, and Mary went to bed. Jamie dropped off Eddie at her house and then went to bed himself.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A week had passed and Eddie's parents had left for Jamaica and Eddie had temporarily moved into the Reagan house. Eddie was supposed to be sleeping in Erin's old room but she spent most nights with Jamie.

"Are you a virgin?" Eddie asked as she and Jamie laid in Jamie's bed one night.

"No. I'm not. Are you?" Jamie was a little nervous about where this conversation was going.

"Yeah. I've dated a few guys but it never went that far with any of them."

"Does it bother you that I'm not a virgin?"

"No. I don't really care, I was just asking."

"Are you thinking about us having sex?"

"I'd be lying if I said no. I've thought about. I think I want us to eventually."

"Me too. You know, if we did it right now, no one would no. My parents are like rocks when they're sleeping, and Joe's not here."

"Are you being serious?"

"Yeah. If you're not ready, that's ok, but if you are, then why wait?"

"Ok."

And they had sex, right there in Jamie's bedroom. Unfortunately, they'd been so caught up in the moment they had forgotten to use a condom.

They fell asleep in each other's arms and stayed like that until the morning. They actually ended being a little late to school because they'd overslept.

"Jamie, can I talk to you." Mary said as her son rushed down the stairs.

"Mom, Eddie and I are gonna be late." Jamie said, rushing around the kitchen to make a lunch for himself and Eddie.

"Jamie, I know what you and Eddie did last night."

Jamie stopped dead in his tracks. "What're you talking about?" He asked, playing dumb.

"Don't play dumb, Jameson. I will not have that continue under my roof. From now on do as long as Eddie is staying here, she sleeps in Erin's room. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am. It won't happen again."

"I can't believe you did that and thought you'd get away with it. I raised you better."

"I'm sorry, mom."

"You know I have to tell your father, right?"

"Do you really have to? I promise it won't happen again."

"I'm telling him, and that's final. Now go. You're already late."

Jamie gathered his things and met Eddie in the car.

"What took you so long? We're already late as is." Eddie asked, as they finally started the drive to school

"We can't have sex again?" Jamie said, not really answering Eddie's question.

"What? Was it really that bad? I mean yeah it was my first time but it wasn't that bad, right?"

"No, baby, it was great. You're beautiful. It wasn't you, it's my mom. She knows."

"She knows? Do you just think she knows or did she tell you?"

"She told me she heard us last night. She told me that from now on you have to sleep in Erin's room like we had originally agreed, and we can never have sex in that house again. She's gonna tell my dad."

"I'm sorry, Jamie. It's my fault."

"It's not your fault, just don't say anything about it. Don't mention it unless she does."

"Ok."

The couple finally made it to school and then went their separate ways.

They met up again in 8th period because they had it together, but neither one of them really talked much. They drove home together like always and then Eddie went into Erin's room, and Jamie went to his room. During dinner, they still hadn't really talked at all, even when they were talked to. Eddie excused herself after only eating a couple bites. That night, Jamie didn't expect to here a knock on his door.

"Are you ok? Did I do something wrong?" Jamie asked.

"No, I just realized maybe this wasn't the best idea. I mean we just met each like a few months ago and we've only been dating for like two weeks. We already had sex and I'm even living in your house. I just think this was a bad idea."

"What exactly do you think is a bad idea? Our friendship, our relationship, living at my house, or is having sex?"

"To be honest, all of it."

"So, this is it? You're just gonna shut me out of your life?"

"I've never been good at trusting people. I'm usually the loner. No one wants to even be my friend, let alone date me. I don't know how to do this. I don't know how to be in a friendship or a relationship. Maybe I will never know how. That's why I think it would best if we just parted ways. My dad's talking about moving again after the holidays anyway."

"Ok, if that's really what you want then I'm not gonna stop you. It was nice knowing you." With that, Jamie slammed his door in Eddie's face.

Eddie packed all fo her things up within 10 minutes, said her quick goodbyes to the very gracious Reagans and left.

She kind of went off the grid for the next few weeks. She didn't go to school, barely left her house, she practically fell off the face of the earth. One of the only times she actually did go out was to confirm her suspicions. She'd been felling like crap for about a week and she realized she had missed her period. She went to the drug store across the street from the giant apartment she lived in, picked up a pregnancy test, and then went back home.

She took the pregnancy test nearly an hour after she bought it, and didn't look at the results for another 3 hours. When she finally did look at the results, it wasn't what she was hoping. She was pregnant with Jamie Regan's baby. Just her luck, the first and only time she has sex, she gets pregnant.

Eddie spent the rest of that day going back and fourth on whether or not she should tell Jamie. She eventually decided she wasn't going to tell him. It would ruin his life. His family would be more than angry. She didn't want to cause anymore trouble that she already had so she decided she wasn't going to tell him.

And she didn't. She went on through her pregnancy, much to the dismay of her parents. She'd moved schools, but her father decided he was going to keep the family in New York. Eddie had prepared everything for the baby during the pregnancy. She'd decorated the nursery, bought clothes, diapers, wipes, bottles. All the essentials needed for a baby. She'd even made a birth plan for the hospital. She wanted an all natural water birth in a hospital.

Unfortunately, her plan didn't play out the way she wanted.

One night, at 41 weeks and 2 days, Eddie woke up to her water breaking. She glanced over at the beside clock and saw that it was 2am. She decided she'd try to go back to sleep for awhile until the contractions started picking up, and then she'd go to the hospital. She fell back asleep for a few hours and woke back up around 5:30. The contractions were getting stronger and closer together but they were still 10 minutes apart, lasting for less than a minute each. Eddie labored at home some more. Her parents left for work around 8:30, leaving her with the maid and her mom's car so the maid could rove her to the hospital. At that point, Eddie's contractions were 7 minutes apart, lasting a minute and 15 seconds. She still wanted to stay home until labor progressed more.

It definitely did. In the span of an hour, contractions went from 7 minutes apart to 2 minutes apart, and Eddie started feeling pushy. After having given birth to 3 children herself, the maid knew Eddie would not make it to the hospital if she drove her there. She started getting towels and blankets to cover the floor and called 911. She laid down enough towels and blankets to protect Eddie's bed, and had her lay down. Within 5 minutes of calling them, 2 patrol officers showed up at the apartment to assist.

"Eddie!?" One of the cops was none of than Joe Reagan, big brother of Jamie Reagan, and the uncle of Eddie's baby.

"Joe." Eddie breathed out, already exhausted from labor.

"I didn't know you were pregnant." He said, still slightly shocked to see her about to have a baby.

Eddie didn't get a chance to respond before another contraction hit. The other cop, who had introduced himself as Officer Renzulli, was coaching Eddie in how and when to push. She pushed for 10 seconds as she was told, took two deep breaths, and then pushed again. She did that for the entire contraction.

"I don't want to be in this position. I can't be on my back." She announced. She was laying in the traditional birthing position. Her back was killing her and the extra pressure made the pain so much more unbearable. No one argued with her as she flipped over, now on all fours. The nurse quickly scrambled around for the birthing ball so she could lean against it. She was now balancing on her knees, with her head resting on the birthing ball. Gravity would help immensely with bringing the baby down and out. Once the next contraction came, she pushed again, and at the end, Renzulli said he could see the very top of the baby's head.

"Have you ever done this before?" Eddie asked, slightly out of breath. The question was meant for Renzulli but both officers answer.

"Yes." Renzulli said

"No." Joe said.

"I've delivered three babies, and one of them was my own. My wife was actually in a very similar situation as you." Renzulli said. That made Eddie feel slightly better.

"Joe, you can't tell Jamie about the baby. I don't want him to have to deal with this. It's not his problem, it's mine. Promise me you won't tell him." Eddie said to Joe, pleading with him not to tell his younger brother.

"I promise I won't tell him." Joe said. He knew keeping the secret would kill him, but he also knew Eddie wanted what she thought was best for her baby. If she didn't want Jamie in the baby's life, then he would respect that.

7 contractions later, the baby's head was finally out. Things went pretty quickly after that. It only took one more contraction to get the baby out, and Eddie was turning back over on her back to cradle her baby.

"Come on, baby, give us a good cry." Renzulli said, lightly shaking the baby's abdomen to get it to cry. After a few light pats on the bottom by Eddie, the beautiful baby let out a loud wail. Eddie's eyes immediately filled with tears. She was a mom. In fact, there wasn't a dry eye in the room. The maid had gotten a nose bulb that Eddie happened to have and sucked fluid out of the baby's nose and mouth.

"Congratulations, Eddie." Joe said, a few years falling down his face.

"Thank you so much, all of you. This definitely wasn't the way I wanted to give birth, but all I care is that my baby is safe. She is thanks to you."

Only about 5 minutes after the baby was born, the ambulance showed up and loaded Eddie and her baby girl in. Eddie asked if Joe would ride with her and Renzulli said it was fine. Renzulli gave the maid a ride in the RMP and they followed the ambulance.

"She's beautiful, Eddie. Does she have a name?" Joe asked, as he gushed over the baby.

"Her name is Josie Marie Reagan Janko."

"Josie?" He asked, wondering if there was any connection.

"I found that name a few months ago. I like it but I wasn't sure. After what just happened, I figured she should be named after someone who helped bring her into this world. I didn't want to name her Josephine, so Josie was the next best option."

"I'm honored."

They got to the hospital and Eddie was taken up to L&D. Joe waited until the waiting room.

Once in her room, Eddie was given a dose of Pitocin to stop bleeding and help her deliver the placenta. Within 10 minutes, the placenta was delivered. Josie was given a small bath by a nurse, a diaper, and white onesie that was provided by the hospital, and swaddled in a pink and purple receiving blanket. To top it all off, she was given a pink hat. The nurse handed her back to Eddie, and Eddie began nursing.

"You made quite the entrance, huh little one." Eddie said softly to the nursing baby.

In response, Josie have a little whine.

"It's just you and me, little one. We're gonna take on this world together."

Eddie ran a finger lightly over her daughter's soft chubby cheeks. As they stared into each other's eyes, Eddie fell in love. She'd never lived anyone or anything more than she loved her daughter.

After an hour of mommy-daughter bonding, Eddie invited Athena (the maid), Joe, and Renzulli into the room.

"So, since you delivered her, I think it's only fair that you get to hold her." Eddie said to Renzulli. Eddie handed Josie over very carefully, and Renzulli cradled the baby with expert knowledge. She felt safer knowing that he had kids of his own. Once Renzulli had his baby fill, he handed her back.

"You're technically her uncle and now her namesake, you can hold her if you want."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Joe happily excepted the infant. He also held her with expert knowledge, having held Nicky and now Jack plenty of times. He bounced the baby slightly and cooed softly. He secretly wished Eddie would let him be in Josie's life. He'd already fallen so in love with this baby.

"I was so wrapped up in getting through labor, I honestly forgot that today's my birthday." Eddie announced.

"Happy Birthday to both of you." Renzulli said. "Reagan, I hate to break up this sweet moment, but our shift ended an hour ago, and we have to go fill out paperwork."

"Ok." Joe carefully handed Josie back to her mom. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. "I don't know if it really means anything, but I am technically Josie's uncle. Just give me a call if you ever want help or need anything. I'll be available." He gave her the card and then followed Renzulli.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The past year had one of the craziest in her life. Life with her daughter had been fun and exciting and hard and stressful and everything else imaginable, and Josie was only a year old. In that year, Eddie had gotten a full ride to Yale. She and her daughter moved to Connecticut. She rented an apartment for $1500 a month. She slept tent and groceries with a roommate who was a fellow student. Paisley, her roommate, was a sophomore. She gave Eddie advice during her freshman year that was greatly appreciated. She'd even watch Josie sometimes when Eddie had to work or if she had a class and she didn't.

"Hi, Jos. Hi, Ed. How was your day?" Paisley asked as she entered the apartment.

"Pretty good. Jos and I went to the park for about an hour. I went to work for a 4 hour shift. Then I picked her up from the babysitter and we came back here."

"That's good. What are you gonna do for break?" She said, changing the subject.

"I'm probably gonna go home for a little while, maybe just for Christmas Eve and Christmas Eve. I'm not really sure. I'm kinda avoiding people at home."

"Who? And why?"

"Josie's father doesn't know he's a father. His older brother is the only one from that family who knows. I'm still not sure if I really want her uncle in her life. I mean he did help deliver her, but he and his brother and so close and I'm afraid he'll accidentally or purposely tell him about Josie. Also my dad arrested last month. I haven't seen my mom yet since it happened. Coincidentally, Josie's father's family is a family of cops and my father's arresting officer was the oldest brother in that family. So I kinda don't want to go home."

"Yikes, that sounds like a shit storm."

"It is. What about you? What're you doing for break?"

"I'm gonna go home. At least for one of the weeks of break. Then maybe I'll go to New York. I haven't been since I was in middle school."

"Cool. Maybe you could go with me and I could show you the city."

"Yeah, sounds fun."

Break started a week later. Paisley left for Philadelphia the Monday before Christmas Eve. Eddie had decided she was going to stay in New Haven for Christmas, and then she and Paisley would go to New York together for New Years.

Eddie had a nice, quaint Christmas with Josie and some friends she made with she'd been at Yale. Even though it wasn't technically Josie's first Christmas, it was the first Christmas she could open gifts and understand more what was going on. Eddie had gotten a few things for Josie to open and she seemed to love them. For dinner, Eddie and her friend Katy made lasagna. Another friend, Caleb, brought home made key lime pie for dessert. It wasn't exactly them Christmas Eddie was used to, but it was fun and simple.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_**A/N: I know it's been pretty rushed. I wanted to get to the good part. Also, I'm finally gonna mention Jamie in the next chapter. In this, Jamie will still have gone to law school, but will have only done 1 year of undergrad because he took college classes in high school. **_

_5 years later... _

Quite a few things had happened in 5 years. Eddie had graduated from Yale with degrees in Criminology and Criminal Justice. She'd made up her mind about what she wanted to do as a career. She wanted to be a cop. She just didn't know if she wanted start immediately or wait a little while until Josie was a little older. After she graduated from Yale, she and Paisley parted ways, promising to stay in touch. Paisley moved back to Philly and Eddie moved to New Jersey. New Jersey wasn't exactly where she saw herself, but she lived in a nice area, there was a nice school for Josie. Her life was pretty ok.

"Mama?" Josie asked her mom as the pair sat at their dinner table.

"What's up, baby?" Eddie asked, giving her daughter her undivided attention.

"Do I have a dad?"

'Oh god, what do I say to that? I never thought this day would come, or at least not this soon.' Eddie thought to herself. She drew in a deep breath, blew it out, and built up the courage to answer her daughter's question.

"Yes, you have a father."

"Where is he? Why doesn't he live with us? Does he love me?"

"He lives in New York. He doesn't know about you."

"Why not, mama?"

"Because when I had you, I was really young. So was your father. Having a baby is a big responsibility and I didn't know if he was ready for it."

"He does know who I am? At all?"

"No, he doesn't. Maybe one day, if you really want to, you can meet him. But that day isn't today, or tomorrow. Right now, I'm still not sure if he's ready. So for right now, you have me and I have you. We have each other and that's what really matters. Ok?"

"Ok, mama. I love you."

Eddie wrapped her arms around the small child and told her she loved her too. And she really did. Josie was her life. She was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Josie gave Eddie a purpose in life. She gave Eddie a reason to keep going, even when things were tough.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_In New York..._

Jamie had just graduated from Harvard Law. His graduation was bitter sweet. He was happy that he had finally finished school, and all his hard work payed off, but he missed his mom. Mary Reagan had died two years to the week prior to Jamie's graduation. It was still hard, even after two years. He still cried himself to sleep some nights, and he thought about her all the time. She was his mom, after all. She'd been the first person to love him. The first person to truly care for him. She was his first love.

Even though he loved her, he also loved the idea of being a cop. He knew if she were still alive, she wouldn't have approved of him entering the academy, but that's what he wanted. He had wanted to be a cop long before he got into Harvard, but he wanted to make his mom happy.

His academy training was halted just two weeks in when he received news that his brother had been killed in the line of duty. He was granted leave to go home and take some time.

"I can't believe this happened." Jamie said to his dad, as they sat in the living room together. Frank had just explained what had happened.

"Neither can I, son." Frank said, his voice raw and scratchy. He had obviously been crying.

"When's the funeral?"

"Tomorrow."

With that, Jamie went up to his old room to grieve the loss of his brother, his best friend.

Over the next few weeks, things took a turn for the worst. Jamie stopped eating, barely drank anything, he lost a lot of weight. He was depressed. He was even hospitalized to two days due to dehydration and the beginnings of malnutrition. Once he was released, he went right back to barely eating and drinking. Frank practically had to drag him to the therapist.

By some miracle, therapy actually helped. Jamie finally started eating and drinking again, he smiled more, he built up muscle again. He was back on the right track. He still thought about Joe everyday, and missed him dearly, but it was getting better.

Nearly 2 months after Joe's death, Jamie re-entered the academy. He knew it would be hard, but he had to. Joe was actually the one who encouraged him to follow his dream of being a cop.

He finished his training at the academy, and he was officially an NYPD Police Officer. The whole family went to his graduation. They cheered so loud for him. The only two people that were missing were his mom and Joe. He knew they were looking down proudly.

Jamie started on the job soon after his graduation. He'd been partnered with a TO named Renzulli. He happened to be the same TO Joe had had. Renzulli was tough, but educational. He pushed Jamie in ways he knew Jamie could handle. He also never failed to remind him to not become like Danny.

Pretty early into the job, Jamie had been approved by FBI agents, who claimed they knew Joe. They claimed they knew the real reason behind Joe's death. He'd been killed by the Blue Templar. They wanted Jamie to help them infiltrate the Blue Templar and bring them down for good. Of course, as any young cop would be, he was unsure. He loved his brother, and wanted to avenge his death, but he barely had any experience. He knew they were plenty of other more qualified people to do the job. Hell, they could even use Danny.

In all this mess, anther mini mess sprang up. Jamie had visited Angie, Joe's girlfriend, and she'd given him a box of Joe's stuff. He'd put it in his trunk, excepting it to stay in there forever. One day, he got curious. He opened the box and looked at the contents. He found Joe's iPod. He listened to a few of Joe's favorite songs, and then found a voice memo titled 'Don't hate me.'

_"Jamie, if you ever find this, don't hate me. You have a kid. A daughter. Her name is Josie. I was actually at her birth, it was an accidental home birth that Renzulli and I got called to. I was sworn to secrecy by her mother. I've only seen her a couple times. Her mom isn't really into the idea of you finding out, and she's scared that I'll accidentally or purposely tell you. I can't tell you who her mom is. I want to protect her privacy. Anyway, I just had to get that off my chest. You'll probably never find this, so I really don't have anything to afraid of."_

Jamie ended the recording. 'I have a kid,' Jamie thought. 'Fuck. I gotta find her.' Jamie scrolled through some other recordings until he found the one of the Blue Templar. 'God, why can't this just end?'


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_3 years later..._

Eddie finally bite the bullet, nearly 4 years after graduating from Yale. She went through the police academy and was now on her first day as an NYPD police officer. She'd already dropped off Josie with the babysitter, and arrived at the 12th precinct 45 minutes before her shift, to make sure she left herself plenty of time to get ready. After dressing in her uniform, she went went to the front desk to find out her partner assignment.

'Edit Janko- Jameson Regan.'

Eddie read the paper 5 times before she could fully comprehend it. She was really partnered with Jamie Regan, her ex and the father of her child. This would be just great. If she was lucky, he wouldn't remember her and she wouldn't have to get into the whole "You have a daughter you don't know about" mess.

Eddie walked out the front doors of the precinct, to see none other than Jamie Regan standing out by the RMP. Acting like she had no idea who he was, she asked: "You Regan?" After getting his attention and a "yeah," she continued.

"Eddie Janko. Serge says we're riding together." She introduced herself, still hoping he didn't recognize.

'Oh my god. Eddie Janko.' Jamie thought, as he heard her name and saw her face. 'She clearly doesn't remember me. Just act like you don't know her.'

"Something wrong?" She asked.

"No, um, I was expecting-" 'Not you. My ex girlfriend from high school' is what he wanted to say.

"Fat, sweaty, Hungarian guy? Sorry to burst your bubble." She said, smiling. She had to act like everything was fine.

"No offense." He said, even though he really wasn't thinking that.

"Oh, no, trust me, it's really hard to offend me. My real name is Edit, after my grandmother, but Eddie's just easier all around." She explained.

'I already know that,' he thought.

"Kay, Uh, who was your last partner?" He asked.

"Actually I just graduated from the academy last week."

'Haha, very funny. Why aren't you laughing?'

He looked at her to see if she was serious, and realized she was. "Oh, seriously?"

"You're my first Reagan. Be gentle."

"I just meant all my other partners have had as much time on the job as me."

"Should I come back in a few years?"

"I'll let you know after our tour."

At that, Eddie smiled. She hoped she'd meet his standards, and she hoped she didn't completely embarrass herself.

_"All units: 10:13 from the officers. Shots fired. Corner of Bristow and 9th. Units responding." The radio sounded._

"That's us. So much for starting slow. Hey!" He said.

"Do you mind if I drive?" She asked, already jogging over to the driver's side.

"What? I don't think-" It was too late. She was already starting the engine. He quickly got in as she sped off. "Hey! Whoa!" He exclaimed. Eddie was a bit of a crazy driver.

They arrived on the scene of an officer who had shot by a perp. Jamie stopped to talk to an officer who had been on the scene. They discovered a 10-30 (robbery) had turned into a 10-13 when the officer's partner chased after the perp and got shot. They ran toward the sound of gunshots, and discovered an officer down. Jamie ran in the direction the suspect had supposedly gone, but found no one. An ambulance arrived, and transported Collins to the hospital.

Eddie and Jamie followed to the hospital in the RMP. They waited in the waiting, and when Frank arrived, he told them that she was dead.

"Sir, this is my partner." Jamie said, introducing Frank to his new partner.

"Officer Janko, sir." Eddie said.

"You going back to the scene?" Frank asked.

"As soon as we talk to the detectives." Jamie responded.

Frank nodded and blew out a breath. "We need to get this son of a bitch."

They gave Frank one last look and then walked away. They gave their statements to the detectives and then went back to the scene. They stayed around their for awhile, trying to find any extra information on what had happened. They headed back to the precinct, only to be assigned to protective detail for the suspect.

"I can't believe we're protecting this piece of garbage." Eddie said, as she and Jamie sat in the RMP in front of the suspects apartment.

"Yeah, well someone had to get the assignment. At least we pulled nightshift. You know, should be pretty quiet." Jamie said, trying to find an upside to a horrible situation.

"It doesn't bother you sitting on this guys house?" She asked him.

"Yeah, I wish Reid was rotting in a cell. At least we can keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't skip town." He answered. Of course he didn't want to sit on a cop killer's house, but at least they could keep an eye on him.

"Do you think it was cops who called in those threats?"

"Could be. Collins has a lot of friends on the job."

"They deserve a shot at him. An eye for an eye."

"Leaves the whole world blind?"

"Last time I checked, Gandhi wasn't a cop." At that, Jamie gave a throaty chuckle. Jamie nodded his head, agreeing with her not-so-funny joke. "You're not the only one who went to school, Regan." She teased, with a smile.

"Here we go." Jamie said as Reid walked up to the RMP. "What do you want?" He asked rather harshly.

"Oh, good evening officers. I just want to tell you guys how safe I feel knowing you're out here." Reid said, condescendingly.

"What your mouth." Jamie warned.

"Yeah whatever, Chief. Thing is I really need some cigarettes." He said, blowing off Jamie's warning.

"Well, that sounds like a personal problem." Eddie said.

"There's a drug store right on the corner, I know you got my back." Reid said, with a smile.

"Tell me we're not giving this guy an armed escort to buy a pack of smokes." Eddie said, not wanting to oblige by Reid's request.

"That's the assignment. Look on the bright side, maybe he'll trip and break his neck." Jamie said, as he started the engine.

They followed Reid around the corner, waited outside while he bought cigarettes, and then followed him back to his apartment.

"So, care to tell me a little about yourself? I mean we're gonna be here for awhile, and now that we're partners, I feel we should at least a little bit about each other." Eddie said.

"First day on the job, and you already want to know my life story?" Jamie asked, being slightly defensive.

"Not necessarily your life story, but a little bit would be nice."

"Fine. What do you want to know?"

"Fine, starting off with an easy one. Do you have any family?"

"Well, there's my dad, you already met him. My grandpa, a former PC. My older brother Danny, a detective out of the 54. My older sister Erin, an ADA. Erin has a daughter, and Danny and his wife Linda have two boys. Other than them, no one else. What about you?"

"Well, I have both my parents still. And my 9 year old daughter."

"No father in her life?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"No, he bailed when she was young." Eddie lied. She still didn't have the heart to tell him that he was the father of her daughter.

"I guess I technically do have a daughter. I just don't know anything about her."

"How do you know about her, and know nothing about her?" Eddie asked, starting to get worried. How the hell did he know about Josie?

"Well, it's kinda complicated. I actually have another brother, Joe, who died in the line of duty. His girlfriend gave me a box of his stuff. In it, was his iPod. In his voice memos was one titled 'Don't hate me.' In it, he said that I have a daughter named Josie. He was sworn to secrecy by her mother to keep her a secret. Her mother wanted to ensure her safety or something. He didn't think I'd ever hear that voice memo, but he was wrong. I tried finding her for awhile, but up lead hit a dead end. I've never told anyone that, by the way."

"Then why did you tell me?" Eddie asked.

"I'm just gonna go out and say it. I know who you are. I remember you. We dated back in high school. Senior year. Do you remember?" Jamie asked, confessing what he'd known since he laid his eyes on her.

Eddie took a deep breath and then answered his question.

"Yeah, I remember you. I didn't want to say anything because I was hoping you didn't remember me."

"You said your daughter is 9 years, right? That's about the time we broke up. Then you disappeared after that. Her father didn't really bail, did he?"

"No, he didn't."

"Am I her father? Is your daughter's name Josie?"

"Yeah, her name's Josie. You're her father."

Jamie took a few moments to process what he'd just heard, before speaking again.

"Why did you keep her away from me? Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I didn't want to ruin your life with this. I wanted to deal with it on my own. I feel like I did a pretty good job. She's a healthy and happy kid, and we've done just fine on our own."

"What makes you think should would've ruined my life?"

"Oh come on, Jamie. Your family is Irish Catholic. No sex before marriage, no babies out of wedlock. That's breaking two of the most scared rules. Do you really think your parents would've been accepting of it? They probably would've kicked you out. I couldn't let one mistake ruin your relationship with your family. I couldn't let it ruin your life."

"But what if they'd been supportive? What if they'd been ok with it? We'll never know now."

"I know you probably want me to say I'm sorry, but I'm not. I don't regret not telling you. She's my daughter and I had every right not to tell you. It was my choice."

"Don't I, as her father, have a right to meet her? Or at least know that she exists?"

"I don't know." She said with a shrug. She really didn't know what he wanted her to say.

"Is it too much to ask if I can meet her?" He asked, after a few minutes of silence.

"Jamie, she's only 9 years old. I really don't know if it would be a good idea. I've never told her anything about you. All she knows is that she has a father."

"But, she's my daughter. I've already missed 9 years of my life, are you really gonna sit there and tell me I have to miss the rest of her life?"

Eddie didn't say anything. They sat in silence for nearly an hour, until Salazar and his friends showed up. Jamie stepped out of the car, to try and stop Salazar from doing something he would regret. Salazar finally decided to walk away, and Jamie and Eddie got back into the car.

"Are you ever gonna answer my question?" Jamie asked.

Eddie sighed. "I guess you can see her. I mean it would just be mean if I kept you from her forever."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. We have another nightshift tomorrow, so you can com over and see her during the day." If happened to be the weekend so Josie wouldn't be in school.

They continued watching over Reid's apartment, until their replacements arrived. They drove back to the precinct, dressed back into street clothes, and met again out front.

"Just call me. Josie usually wakes up around 8 am on the weekends. Maybe we could meet for breakfast or something." Eddie said.

"Ok, will do." Jamie said, as he got into his car.

They drove off, in hopes the meeting would go well.

**_A/N: Most of the dialogue in this chapter came from episode 4x01, Eddie's first episode._**

**_Also, to the guest who asked why this story is so rushed, it's rushed because I didn't want to focus too much on the time they spent apart in their lives. I wanted to focus more on what happens now that they've met again and Jamie now knows he's a father. _**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The new partners went their separate ways. Eddie caught a few hours of sleep, after picking up her sleeping daughter from the babysitter. Jamie got some sleep too.

Just as Eddie had told Jamie, Josie woke up at 8am, requesting breakfast.

"Baby, we're gonna go our for breakfast today." Eddie said, effectively telling her daughter she couldn't have breakfast at that moment.

"Who are we going with? Is grandma coming? Please tell me she's not coming."

At that last comment, Eddie laughed. Her daughter had the same feelings about Lena as she did. They both loved her, but she could be a lot sometimes.

"No, grandma's out of town right now. She said something about Bora Bora." Eddie said, with a slight eye roll at the end.

"Then who? We only go out for breakfast when we go with someone else."

"Well, we're going with your father."

"I thought you said my dad doesn't know about me?"

"Well, you know how I started a new job yesterday?" Josie nodded. "He's my partner. We actually met in high school. When I got pregnant with you, I moved schools. I never told him about you. Yesterday, he figured out that he's your dad. He wants to meet you. Do you want to meet him?"

"Is he nice?"

"Yeah, baby, he's nice. He's really excited about meeting you."

"Ok, but can I at least have a banana before we go? I'm hungry."

"Yeah, you can have a banana, and then you need to get dressed."

Josie finished her banana and then went off to her room to get dressed. Eddie did the same. Josie decided on a pink, floral sundress with a jean jacket and white sandals, while Eddie decided on skinny jeans and a pale blue blouse. She did some minimal makeup and curled her hair in loose curls. She then braided Josie's hair into twin Dutch braids. Eddie got a call from Jamie around 8:30, asking if they could meet at a nearby diner. Eddie agreed and they were on their way.

"Mom, I'm nervous to meet him. What if he doesn't like me?" Josie said, as she and Eddie walked to the diner.

"Josie, he's gonna love you. You have nothing to worry about." Eddie reassured. Truth was, she was nervous too.

"Are you gonna marry him?"

"I don't think so, sweetie. But it's an option. We'll just have to wait and see."

"Ok. Am I gonna get a brother or sister?"

"Again, I don't know. We'll have to wait and see."

"I want a little sister. I want her to be named Aurora, like sleeping beauty. I wish my name was Aurora."

"Josie, you're named after a really nice man. He's actually a man who helped you be born. He also happens to be your dad's brother. His name was Joseph. Josie kinda sounds like Joseph."

"Where is he? Why don't I know him?"

"Well, he actually died a few years ago. He was a cop too, like me and your dad."

"Mom, are you gonna die?" Josie asked, her eyes already filling with tears.

"I can't promise you that I won't, but I promise you that I will do everything I can to go home to you."

"I love you, mom."

"I love you too, baby." Eddie said, as she brought her daughter closer to her side.

The pair arrived at the diner a few minutes later, and found Jamie already sitting at a table. Eddie walked up to the table, and Josie followed closely behind her. When they were standing in front of the table, Josie decided to be shy and hide behind her mother.

"Jamie, this is Josie. Jos, can you say hi?" Eddie said.

"Hi Josie." Jamie said, with a glowing smile. He realized how beautiful she was. She had long, dirty blonde hair, greenish, blueish eyes. She looked a lot like Eddie.

Josie was still being shy and simply just waved at Jamie. When Eddie went to sit down, Josie protested and gripped her leg harder. Eddie realized this shyness wasn't going to let up, so she moved her daughter long enough to sit down, and then placed her on her lap. She was a little on the small size for her age, so she wasn't heavy at all.

"So, how're you this morning?" Jamie asked, trying to start a conversation.

"We're good. Josie, as you can see, is being a little shy."

She had her head in Eddie's neck, and Eddie was practically cradling her like a baby.

"Can I get chocolate pancakes?" Josie whispered into Eddie's ear.

"You can, only if you get fruit with them and sit in your own chair. He's not gonna bite you, baby." Eddie whispered back.

Josie reluctantly got out of Eddie's lap, and sat in the 3rd chair at the table.

The waiter came over and took their orders. They went through breakfast fairly easily. They shared small conversations, but nothing big. Jamie really didn't know how to talk to his daughter. Maybe if he had been given the chance meet her when she was younger, it would've been easier. Now that she was 9, he had no idea what to do or say.

"Eddie, is there something that Josie really likes to do? I mean I'm kinda at a loss right now." Jamie whispered to Eddie as they walked back to Eddie's apartment.

"She's been wanting to see this new movie that came out. I kept putting it off because I was too busy. She's also obsessed with the zoo and the aquarium. Why?" Eddie explained.

"Can we take her to the zoo?"

"Yeah, if you want."

"Hey, Josie. How would you feel if we went to the Central Park Zoo? Then we could walk around in the park. Would you like that?" Jamie asked the young girl.

Josie simply smiled and nodded. Jamie could see her she'll was breaking when she walked over to Jamie and put her little hand in his. He swore his heart grew 2 sizes that day.

Josie made his heart so full. He felt like his life was complete with her.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

It had been nearly 2 months since Jamie and Eddie first started riding together, and since Jamie met his daughter. Jamie had managed to keep Josie a secret from his family. He usually told his family everything, but Josie was one thing he wasn't willing to share yet. They was until one fateful night. Eddie had agreed to let Josie stay the night at Jamie's place. She was reluctant at first, but she knew it was crucial to their bonding.

"So Jos, what do you want for dinner?" Jamie asked Josie. It was around 6:30 and Jamie figure she should eat dinner sooner rather than later because she had school in the morning.

"I want Chinese." Josie said.

Jamie was about to order the Chinese when there was a knock at the door. Josie went back to watching tv while Jamie got the door.

He was more than surprised to see who was at the door. Frank, Erin, and Danny were standing in the doorway, along with Sean who was carrying a bag of food.

"Uh, hey everyone. What're you all doing here?" Jamie asked, thoroughly confused.

"Did you forget?" Erin asked.

"Forget what?"

"We scheduled to have dinner together, remember our talk on Sunday?" Danny said, trying to refresh his memory.

'Oh, fuck. I totally forgot? What do I do about Josie?' He asked himself.

"Uh, yeah, come on in." Jamie said, as he stepped out of the way.

"Uh, Uncle Jamie, who's the girl on your couch?" Sean asked.

The three adults, excluding Jamie, turned around, expecting to see an adult woman, but were shocked when they saw a little girl.

At this point, Josie had now stood up from the couch and was facing the adults and Sean.

"Um, well, you, this is Josie." Jamie stuttered.

"Ok, and why is she here?" Danny asked, trying to get Jamie to tell them who she was.

"Um, she's my daughter." He said, barely above a whisper.

"You're what?" Danny exclaimed/questioned.

"Yeah, she's my daughter."

"And since when do you have a daughter?" Erin asked.

"Well, technically I've had a daughter for 9 years, but I just found out about her two months ago."

"And who's her mother?" Erin asked.

"Eddie Janko."

"As in Officer Janko, you're partner?" Frank finally spoke.

"Yeah. I don't know if you remember her, but we dated for a little while in high school. She actually stayed with us for a couple weeks."

"Oh, yeah. I remember her. Really short, blonde, never stops talking." Danny said.

Jamie smiles slightly.

"Josie was actually, um, conceived in my old bedroom." Jamie whispered, not really wanting Frank, Sean, or Josie to hear.

"What?" Danny exclaimed.

"Yeah." Jamie said, as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"You know this means you and Officer Janko can't be partners anymore, right?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, I know. That's why I waited to tell you about Josie. If it weren't for this, I would've waited longer. I like being partnered with Eddie. If it weren't for our partnership, I wouldn't have met my beautiful daughter."

Everyone in the room smiled at that last comment. Even after only two minutes of knowing about Josie, they knew Jamie loved his daughter.

"Well, we should probably eat because this food is gonna get cold." Danny said.

Erin grabbed plates from the cupboard, Sean grabbed forks and napkins, and Danny took the food out of the bag.

"Dad, who are these people?" Josie asked, now hiding behind Jamie. She was such an outgoing, talkative kid with people she knew, but very shy around strangers.

"Well, this is my brother and sister, my nephew, and my dad. Your aunt, uncle, cousin, and Grandpa." Jamie explained. At this point, he had already scooped Josie into his arms and was carrying her on his hip. Since he had missed her younger years, he had to make up for it now.

"Are they nice?"

"Yeah, they are."

Jamie walked over to the kitchen with Josie, and set her on the counter. He made a plate of food for her, already knowing what she liked at this point, and set it on the counter next to her. Josie quietly ate on the counter, while Jamie leaned against the counter next to her, Frank and Erin sat at the breakfast bar, and Danny and Sean sat on the couch, watching a basketball game. Everyone ate at their own pace, and then gathered back in the kitchen when they were done.

"So, you're Josie, huh?" Danny asked Josie.

Josie simply nodded.

"She's a little shy, right? You're shy. You're shy." Jamie said, his smile wide as he poked at her side, revealing her infectious laugh.

Both Erin and Frank laughed at the little girl's laugh.

"My mom said I was named after my dad's brother." Josie announced.

"You were named after Joe?" Danny questioned.

"Yeah, my mom said he helped me be born."

Danny gave a questioning look to Jamie.

"Josie's birth was an unexpected home birth. Eddie called 911 and Renzulli and Joe were first on seen. They helped Eddie deliver Josie. Eddie decided to name Josie after Joe. Josie full name is Josie Marie Reagan Janko." Jamie explained.

"Why did he look like?" Josie asked, referring to her Uncle Joe.

Jamie went into his bedroom and then came back with a picture of Joe.

"This is your Uncle Joe. He was very handsome. You look a little like him."

Josie took the picture from her dad and studied it. After she was done, she gave it back to Jamie.

"Dad, I want to go back to Mom. I want Mom." Josie said. She did this occasionally when she was at Jamie's. She still wasn't used to being away from her mom.

"Ok, I'll take you back over there in a little bit. Just gather your things." Josie hopped off the counter and went to get her things.

"And just like that she's done." Danny said.

"She spent 9 years of her life with it just being her and Eddie. She's not used to me yet." Jamie explained. He understood why she wanted to go home, and he knew it wasn't her fault, but he couldn't help but feel sad. He wanted so badly to be her dad, but he couldn't do that if she didn't want him to. "Maybe we can do this again another time. I gotta take her back and then go to bed. I have 8 o'clock role call tomorrow."

They all said their goodbyes and left.

"Do you have everything?" Jamie asked Jose, who was now sitting on the couch again.

"Yeah."

"Ok, let's go."

Jamie turned off the tv, grabbed her keys, wallet, and phone, and then they were off.

"I'm sorry, dad." Josie said quietly, as she and Jamie drove to Eddie's apartment.

"Sorry for what, Jos?" Jamie asked, wondering what his daughter was apologizing for.

"For asking to go home. I know you're sad about it."

"Josie, it's ok. I mean, honestly, yeah I'm a little sad, but it's ok. I've only been in your life for two months, it's ok to not want to stay over. We don't have to do anything your not comfortable with."

"Why can't you live with me and Mom?"

"Because you're Mom and I are just friends. Usually friends don't live together." He explained in the best way he knew how, without going into too much detail.

"But when Mom was still at school, we lived with Aunt Paisley. Mom and her were just friends and they lived together."

"Well, that was different. Your mom and her friend were roommates. Roommates agree to live with each other, help each other pay for the apartment, pay for food. They're friends. With your mom and I, it's a little bit more complicated."

"But I want my parents to live in the same house as me."

"I know, and maybe one day we will, but not right, not yet."

Josie simply nodded and dropped the conversation. They arrived at Eddie's apartment within a few minutes, and Jamie was glad that Eddie was home.

"Hey Eddie, Josie wanted time come home. I hope it's alright." Jamie said through the buzzer. Eddie buzzed Jamie in and they walked up to the apartment.

"Hey sweetie. Hey Jamie." Eddie said, as she opened the door.

"Hi, mom." Josie said, as she wrapped her arms around Eddie.

"Why are you home so early? I thought you were gonna stay with your dad tonight."

"I didn't want to stay. I wanted to come home."

"Ok." Eddie glanced around her watch and saw that it was 8pm. "Go take a shower."

"Ok. Bye dad."

She gave Jamie a hug, and Jamie returned it with a kiss on the top of her head.

"You're so good with her." Eddie said to Jamie, after Josie walked away.

"I have to be. I have to make up for 9 years." Jamie said.

"Jamie, I don't know how many times you want me to say I'm sorry. Seeing you now with her makes me realize I shouldn't have done what I did. You're so good with her, and your such a good father."

"I wish that I had been there when she was younger. I wish that I had been there at her birth. I wish that I could've heard her first word, seen her first steps; Seen her off on her first day of kindergarten. Unfortunately, I wasn't. I'm not one to hold grudges. I just wished she wanted to spend more time with me. If I had it my way, I would spend every day with her. She doesn't seem to want that. I know it's selfish of me to want that, but I do."

"It's ok to be selfish in this situation. She's told me she doesn't want to spend time with you, she just gets scared when she's away from me or the babysitter. She told me she wants us to live together."

"Yeah, she told me that too."

"Would it be such a crazy thing? I mean this apartment has three bedrooms. We could be roommates. I mean you want to spend more time with her, and she wants to spend more time with you. This would be a solution."

"I don't know, Eddie. I mean I guess this would be a solution, but I don't know if it's the right one. What if people get the wrong idea? I mean I feel like this would put even more controversy in the middle of our partnership. We shouldn't be partnered as is, and living together is only gonna make that more evident."

"So, that's a no?"

"That's a I'm not sure."

"Come on, Jamie. It makes sense. If you really want, we can request other partners. I mean so far, or relationship hasn't put our partnership in jeopardy. Living together wouldn't do anything more."

"Eddie, you know what happened the last time we lived together."

"We were 18! I don't think that will happen again."

"I'll think about it." He said, effectively ending the conversation.

"You should probably go. We have role call at 8am."

"Yeah, I know. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Like Eddie had wanted, Jamie thought about them living together. A lot. He thought about both the pros and cons. He realized there were ultimately more pros than cons, and he was willing to look past the cons if it meant spending more time with Josie.

"Hey Eddie." Jamie said, as the pair arrived at work, coincidentally at the same time.

"Hey Jamie, what's up?" Eddie asked, with a glowing smile.

"I have an answer for you."

"An answer to what?" She asked, confused.

"The living thing." He said vaguely. He didn't want to say too much about it when other people were around.

"Ok, let's talk more after role call because that's in like 20 minutes." She said, staring down at her watch.

The pair went their respective locker rooms, got dressed, and then met again in the role call room, about 2 minutes before role call. After role car, they headed to the RMP and began their tour.

"So, what's your answer?" Eddie asked from the passenger seat.

"I've thought about it for awhile. I thought about all the pros and cons. I realized the pros outweighed the cons. I want to have a better relationship with our daughter and if that means us living together, then I'll do it."

"Really? Because you know you don't have to. We can work something else out. It's ok-" Eddie rambled until Jamie interrupted her.

"Eddie, I want to do this. I want to spend more time with our daughter. I want to be a good father to her. I was to give her some semblance of normal. Is living together will give her that."

"Ok. Does this mean we're gonna be going to the infamous Regan Sunday dinners?" Eddie asked, with a small smile.

"If you want. You don't have to."

"They're probably mad at me. You can take Josie. I'll think she'll like it."

"What makes you think my family is mad at you?"

"Because I kept Josie a secret for 9 years. Not only did you not know about your daughter, but they didn't know about their Granddaughter, niece, and cousin. Maybe it would just be better if you took Josie. Besides, the drive to Bayridge would give you some bonding time."

"Eddie, they're not mad. They're happy. Happy that they have a new granddaughter, niece, cousin. To be honest, I'm not so sure they're not thinking about if they're gonna gain another daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, and aunt."

"What?" Eddie asked, with a humorless chuckle.

"They're all old school Irish Catholics. They're not exactly thrilled that we're not married, especially my grandpa."

"Jamie, we just came back into each other lives a few months ago. Yes, we have a daughter together, but that doesn't necessarily mean I want us to get married."

"I don't want to get married either. And maybe you're right, I'll just take Josie. I don't want to give them the wrong idea."

The car went into a comfortable silence after their conversation. They were both thinking about the same question: "What if we did get married?" Would it be such a bad thing? They already had a daughter together, and they'd agreed to live together. Eddie already knew most of the Regan clan. All the hard stuff was already taken care of. They saw each other almost everyday. They were becoming best friends already. Would marriage be so bad?


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Are you sure about this, little brother?" Danny asked Jamie, as the two packed up Jamie's apartment.

"Danny, for the tenth time, yes I'm sure. It's not like I'm moving in with her to fuck her. I'm moving in to have a better relationship with my daughter." Jamie said, rather crudely. "She wants her parents to live together. What the hell am I supposed to say when she stares at me with those adorable blue eyes?"

"It's a big step. And you say things won't happen, but mistakes do. Maybe you should get to now your daughter a little more before you have another one."

"Danny, Eddie and I have only had sex once and that was 9 years ago. We're not dating, we're not friends with benefits, we're just friends, partners, and coparents to a beautiful little girl. You don't have anything to worry about."

"If you say so."

The two continued packing, and were able to finish everything within two hours. They stopped for a short lunch break, and then headed over to Eddie's, now Eddie's and Jamie's, apartment.

"For the record, I'm glad you're finally happy. Whatever form that happiness come in." Danny said, as they carried the first two boxes up.

"Thanks, Danny."

They carried the first two boxes into the living room, greeting Eddie and Josie on their way in.

They brought in all the boxes pretty quickly, and then sat down for a beer, Jamie's payment to Danny. Jamie went to start unpacking somethings, leaving Danny and Eddie nursing beers alone.

"Jamie told me that you think the family is mad at you."

"I told him that in confidence. I didn't think he'd tell you." Eddie said, slightly upset.

"Nothing is sacred in this family. Everything is fair game."

"Good to know. So, are you guys mad at me?"

"No, we're not mad at you. We understand that you were just trying to do what you thought was best. I guess I can't really speak for the rest of the family, but I know I'm not mad."

"Even back when I was a kid, I knew that a teen pregnancy in an Irish Catholic family wouldn't have boded well."

"I hate to say it, but you're right. I don't think my parents and Grandfather would've been very happy. With that said, you didn't have to hide her from him."

"I realize that now. I see how good of a father he is. Whoever he marries will lucky to have him as their father of their children."

"What makes you so sure that person won't be you?"

"Jamie and I don't see each other that way."

"Stop kidding yourselves. When he talks about you and Josie, he has this little twinkle in his eyes. He talks about both of you like you're the best things in the world, and certainly the best things in his life. It's only a matter of time."

Eddie didn't know what to say to that. Truth was, she felt the same way about Jamie. She just didn't know how to tell him that.

Danny left a little while later, after finishing a beer and spending a little time with Josie.

That night, once Josie had gone to bed and Eddie and Jamie were sitting together on the couch, Eddie decided to bing up the conversation she and Danny had had earlier.

"Danny and I talked earlier. He told me he didn't think your family's mad at me." Eddie started.

"See, I told you." Jamie said.

"He and I also talked about you. He said that when you talk about me and Josie, you get a tinkle in your eyes. You talk about us like we're the best things in the world. Something tells me he didn't just pull that out of thin air."

"Eddie, I don't know what you want me to say." Jamie was nervous about where this conversation was going.

"Jamie, I want you to tell me how you really feel about me. About us. Not just as partners and friends, but as more than that."

Jamie took a deep breath, thought about his next words, and then began talking.

"Danny's right. I think of you and Josie as the best things in the world. I love that you came back into my life and brought Josie with you. And since you came back into my life, I've been trying to deny my feelings for you. I've been telling myself that what I felt for you wasn't right and that I shouldn't feel this way. I can't deny myself anymore. I think I'm falling in love with you."

"To be honest, I think I'm falling in love with you too."

At a loss for words, Jamie leaned forward, and placed a sweet kiss on Eddie's lips. Eddie kissed him back, passion practically spilling out of her. They continued the kiss until Eddie pulled back, needing oxygen. She leaned her forehead against Jamie's, trying to regain composure.

"Where do we go from here?" Jamie asked, not even about a whisper.

"I don't know, but I know that I really liked that." Eddie said, then planted another chaste kiss on his lips.

This continued for awhile, until Jamie finally pulled back. Jamie wrapped his arms around her, and planted a kiss to the top of her head. They didn't know where things would go next, but they were happy they'd finally got things off their chests.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

They went into work the next morning, effectively acting like nothing had happened. They definitely didn't want to forget about what had happened, they just didn't want their personal life to get in the way of their private, very complicated life.

They'd made it through their tour, barely talking about anything that wasn't work related, or Josie related. They'd gone home, driving in separate cars. They eaten dinner with Josie, watched some tv together, and then tucked her in.

After they were confident she was asleep, they gone out to the living room, prepping themselves to talk about what had happened the previous night.

"So, what are we gonna do about this newfound information?" Eddie asked, not wanting to waste any time.

"What can we do? If we take this any further, we're gonna have to report it to HR. They're for sure gonna spilt us up, we'll be lucky if they keep us in the same precinct. Do you really want to give up our partnership?"

"Jamie, is it really a bad thing if they split us up? I mean, they say absence makes the heart grow fonder. I think it would be better for our personal relationship anyway if we didn't spend every waking and sleeping moment together. Plus, I think our daughter is secretly planning our wedding anyway."

"So, I think what your trying to tell me is that you want to act on this?"

"Yeah. I do. I'm tired of acting like nothing's going on. And besides, we don't have to tell anyone anything unless we actually start dating. We haven't started dating yet."

"Oh I get it. Edit Janko, would you go out on a date with me?" Jamie asked, picking on her subtle hints.

"I would love to, Jameson Reagan."

"How about this Friday? We have a day shift, so we could get a babysitter and go out around 9."

"It's a date."

After sharing another adorable make our session, they went to their respective room, both willing Friday to come faster.

And come fast it did.

"This is nice, Jamie. I can't say that I'm not surprise you sprung for something so nice. I mean this place is really fancy." Eddie said, looking around the restaurant. Eddie was dressed in a semi-formal dress, Jamie dressed in a dress shirt and slacks.

"I can't spare any expense for my lady." He said, with a beaming smile.

Eddie smiled back at him, as she took a sip of the very expensive wine. They both ordered steaks, because why not? They talked for awhile, until their dinner came. They savored their delicious food, carrying on a conversation in between bites.

"That was really nice Jamie, but I wish you had let me go Dutch with you. That bill was not cheap." Eddie said, as she and Jamie walked back to their apartment.

"Eddie, I'm the one who asked you on a date, it's only customary that I pay. Chivalry isn't lost on me, unlike most my age."

"That's good to know. I think chivalry is underrated. And I think it's sweet that you wanted to be a gentleman."

"Of course."

Jamie planted a sweet kiss on her cheek. He then wrapped his hand around her waist, and they stayed like that all the way home. They relieved the babysitter and then put Josie to bed together.

"Are you and mom gonna get married?" Josie asked Jamie.

"I don't know, Jos. We'll have wait and see. Now, you should go to sleep. You have a play date tomorrow."

"Night dad." Josie said, as she laid down in bed.

Jamie kissed his daughter's head, and tucked her in tighter under the blanket.

"We love you, baby girl." Eddie said, sweetly.

"Love you too." Josie mumbled, sleep slowly consuming her.

Jamie and Eddie quietly walked out of the room, Eddie carefully closing the door behind them.

The pair took their usual places on the couch together, Eddie taking off her heels and ditching her jacket.

"You look amazing in that dress, by the way." Jamie said, trying not to stare.

"You don't look too bad yourself." Eddie said, as she placed her hands against Jamie's chest.

She leaned in for a kiss, intensifying when Jamie put his hands on her lower back. They shared yet another make out session on the couch, only stopping when Jamie reaches up to try and take off Eddie's bra, the heat of the moment getting the best of.

"Whoa." Eddie said, as she pulled back slightly.

"What's wrong? Do you not want to?"

"I do. Are you sure you want to? I mean this will change things." Eddie said, nervous about the consequences this could have on their budding relationship.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Just maybe not on the couch. Our daughter eats breakfast on this couch."

"Ok." Eddie said, as she sashayed off to her bedroom.

Jamie followed quickly behind, quickly kicking off his shoes. He laid down on the bed, waiting for Eddie to join him. She quickly did, and they went into things pretty rapidly. Clothes came off within a minute, and things started picking up after that.

After going two rounds, they laid in bed together, wrapped in each other's arms.

"I think I love you." Jamie whispered into Eddie's ear, then preceding to nibble her ear.

Eddie laughed and then responded to his comment. "I think I love you too."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Things had been going extremely well with their relationship. They'd been on several dates, even some where they'd taken Josie along.

They were coming up on their fifth month of dating, when the unthinkable happened.

12 David had been called upon by central to a Domestic case in the Bitterman projects. They hadn't yet informed HR of their relationship, so they were still partnered.

They responded quickly, and it escalated quickly. The husband was pointing a gun as his very battered wife.

"Whoa, sir, put the gun down. You don't want to do this." Jamie said calmly. He was resisting the urge to grab his gun, but he felt safe with Eddie's gun trained on the perp.

"Shut up, pig. Who the hell even called you? Just let me deal with this on my own." The perp said, rather coldly.

"Sir, just put the gun down. We can talk about this if you just put the gun down."

"This little bitch has been sleeping around. She's pregnant with a bastard. She's getting what she deserves."

Jamie didn't even have time to react before the perp fired his gun at his wife. Jamie quickly pulled out his gun, but not before the perp turned around and shot Eddie point blank range, once in the leg and another time in the shoulder. Jamie finally caught up with the world and quickly shot the perp, once in the hand, disarming him, and again in the stomach.

Eddie quickly hit the deck after being shot, not exactly aware she'd been shot. She acted completely on instinct after hearing the gunshots.

"Eddie!" Jamie yelled out, after kicking the gun away from the perp.

He dropped to his knees next to Eddie, assessing her wounds. He immediately called for three busses.

"What happened, Jamie?" Eddie asked, sounding not completely there.

"He shot you. Oh god, you're bleeding. I have to hold pressure. This is gonna hurt."

Jamie held pressure to the gaping wound in Eddie's thigh. She winced in pain, and it broke his heart.

Luckily, the ambulances came quickly. They loaded Eddie, the perp, and the perp's wife onto stretchers. The perp had lost consciousness from the immense blood loss. The wife seemed to be ok, taking only a graze to the shoulder. Eddie was starting to slip in and out of concussion. She'd lost a lot of blood. Even though Jamie knew he was supposed to stay at the crime scene, he didn't give a damn. The love of his life and the mother of his child could die. He needed to be with her.

"Sir, usually we only permit family to ride with the patient." The paramedic said calmly.

"I'm her partner and her boyfriend. I need to be with her." Jamie practically begged the paramedic.

"Ok." The paramedic relented.

Jamie climbed in and sat on the bench. He grabbed Eddie's hand, and lightly squeezed.

"Jamie, I love you and our daughter." Eddie breathed out. She then dropped her head on the pillow. The heart rate monitor went crazy, before she flatlined.

"What's happening? What's wrong with her?" Jamie asked frantically.

"Sir, we need you to move. We need to work on her." The paramedic said. They were already well in their way to the hospital, going at a high speed, so standing wasn't easy. Jamie moved off the bench, and stood, gripping the ceiling handle.

Jamie watched helplessly as the paramedic began performing CPR on Eddie. He administered Epinephrine, in an effort to get heart heart to start again. The paramedic then stuck paper paddles onto her chest, and then yelled clear. The shock finally brought her back.

They luckily made it to the hospital quickly, and the paramedic scrambled to get Eddie into the ER. Jamie was right behind them, as the doctor and nurse walked over, listening to the rundown on Eddie's condition. They quickly rushed her into a trauma bay, getting to work almost immediately.

"Sir, you can stay here, but I need you to stand behind the line." A nurse said to Jamie.

Jamie looked down at the floor, and saw a big orange line. He stepped behind the line, and continued to stare at Eddie's lifeless body. Everything happened so quickly, and before Jamie knew anything, Eddie was being wheeled off to the OR.

"Jamie? Is everything ok?" Linda had seen him, and walked over to him.

"I'm fine." Jamie said, sounding distant.

"What happened? Why are you covered in blood?"

Jamie looked down at his uniform, finally noticing the stains that were all over it.

"A domestic call went bad. Eddie got shot. They just took her to the OR."

"Oh god, Jamie. I'm so sorry."

"I don't even know how she is, or if she's gonna be ok. I really need her to be ok." Jamie's shell was cracking.

"Let me check you over. Come with me."

Jamie obliged and followed Linda, as she led him to a curtained off exam room.

"How long have you two been seeing each other?" Linda, reading right through her brother-in-law.

"What are you talking about?" Jamie asked, playing dumb.

"Jamie, I'm not stupid or blind. I know there's something going on between you two. How long?"

Jamie sighed. He knew he couldn't get anything past her. "Almost 5 months. We were going to tell HR on our 6 month anniversary."

"Does she make you happy?"

"Yeah, she makes me so happy. I love her."

Jamie tried to swallow his emotions, as the tears in his eyes welled up.

"She's gonna be ok."

Jamie just nodded. He really didn't know what was going to happen.

Linda checked him over, making sure he didn't have any injuries. His blood pressure and heart rate were slightly elevated, but that was to be expected. Once she'd finished her evaluation, she released Jamie, promising to find out some info on Eddie for him. Jamie went out to the waiting room, and found a bunch of other officers from the 12th, as well as his father and his DCPI. Jamie took a deep breath and then walked over to Frank.

"Jamie, how're you holding up?" Frank asked his youngest son.

"I'm fine, dad. I'm just worried about Eddie. I haven't heard anything from the doctor. She's been in surgery for almost an hour."

"A doctor came out and told us the injuries she'd sustained. They said it could be several hours before she's out of surgery, due to the extensive damage."

"Oh." Jamie said, as he sat down in a nearby chair.

"She'll be ok, son." Frank said, as he put a strong hand on Jamie's shoulder, as a way of trying to comfort him.

He was pretty sure he knew what was going on between his son and his son's partner, but there hadn't been anything to confirm it until now. He knew by the look in Jamie's eyes that he was in love with Edit Janko.

"I know now isn't really the best time, but the detectives want to talk to you. They need to get started on the investigation. They need to make sure this wasn't premeditated."

"Who got assigned the case?" Jamie asked, hoping it was Danny.

"Who do you think?" Frank asked, looking over to Danny and Baez.

Jamie walked over to his older brother, and waited to be questioned.

"How're you holding up?" Danny asked.

"I'm fine. I just want Eddie to be ok, and this bastard to rot in prison where he belongs." Jamie said, truthfully.

"I talked to one of the doctors. They said he didn't really suffer any major injuries, and his outcome is promising. He should be fine, meaning he'll be prosecuted."

"That's good to hear."

"So, tell me everything you can remember."

Jamie began recalling al the details of what had occurred not even 2 hours before. Once he finished with Danny and Baez, he went back to sit with Frank and wait for news on Eddie.

About 5 hours into surgery, Jamie called the babysitter and had her bring Josie to the hospital. He knew the hospital probably wasn't the best place for a kid, but Josie was a very mature 9 year old.

"Jamie, how's Eddie?" The babysitter, Sammy, asked.

"She's still in surgery. I don't know anything yet. Thanks for bringing her." Jamie said, as he tightly hugged Josie.

"I have to go, but just call me if you want to watch her." Sammy said.

"Ok. Bye." Jamie said, as Josie waved goodbye.

"Dad, what's wrong with Mom? Sammy wouldn't tell me." Josie asked, concern filling her voice.

"There's not really an easy way to say this, but earlier today, Mom was shot." Jamie didn't really any point in sugarcoating it.

"Somebody shot Mama?" Josie asked, her bottom lip starting to quivering. "Is Mama gonna die?" Josie was now letting her tears fall.

"Baby, I can't promise that she'll be ok, but I know that she's doing everything she can to fight for us. She's fighting to stay alive for you. She loves you with everything in her body." Jamie said thoughtfully, as he scooped Josie into his lap.

Josie didn't say anything else. She just simply buried her head in her dad's chest, and cried. He didn't try to stop her or give her anymore comfort because he knew she just needed to let it all out. He even shed a few tears over the whole situation, but he quickly wiped them away, knowing he had to be strong for his daughter.

Finally, after 7 hours of surgery, Eddie was out and in the recovery ward.

"How is she, Doctor?" Jamie asked, as the doctor came up to them.

"I'm sorry, are you family of Officer Janko?" The doctor asked, only following HIPAA.

"I'm her partner and the father of our daughter. We live together. I guess our relationship's kinda complicated, but yes I am family." Jamie was kinda babbling.

"Ok. Well, when Officer Janko came in, she had already suffered a severe amount of blood loss. She crashed once in the ambulance, and the paramedic was able to get her back. She was taken into surgery, where we found that her femoral artery was almost completely cut through. She had extensive muscle and nerve damage in both her thigh and her shoulder. She crashed again about half way during surgery. We were able to get her back, barely. We had to transfuse 7 units of blood before we were able to get her completely stable. She's now in the recovery ward. You can see her in a little bit."

"Is she gonna be ok?" Jamie asked, trying to comprehend everything the doctor had told him.

"Provided she makes it through the night, her prognosis is promising. She does have a long road ahead of her, though. There's a possibility of loss of function and pain because of the nerve damage. She'll have to go to physical therapy after her external wounds heal. She's looking at at least 3 months before she can even begin to think about going back to work, and even then, desk duty would be optimal."

"Is my mama gonna die?" Josie asked the doctor, still gripping on for dear life to her father.

"I can't promise you that she won't, but I think she'll fight for you. I think she's strong and she wants to see you again." The doctor said sweetly.

"I want to see her, dad."

"Can we see her?" Jamie asked.

The doctor thought about it for a moment and then agreed to let them see Eddie. She escorted them to her room, and then left.

"Why is she asleep?" Josie asked, referring to her sleeping mother in the bed.

"The doctors gave her some medicine that made her really tired. She should wake up in a few hours."

Josie curled up on the couch, while Jamie sat in a nearby chair. Tired of the silence, Jamie put on some tv, opting for Disney Channel because he knew Josie loved it. Eventually, after about 2 hours, Josie fell asleep. Jamie was left watching Disney Channel by himself, and staring at the love of his life, willing her to wake up.

"Eddie, I know you just went through a lot and I know your tired, but I really need you to wake up. I need you to be ok and wake up please. Our daughter needs you. I need you. Just please wake up." Jamie said to Eddie quietly.

Jamie's reaffirmation apparently worked because about 30 minutes later, Eddie opened her eyes.

"Jamie?" Eddie asked.

"Eddie? Oh my god, you're ok." He said, relieved, as he rushed to her side from standing at the window.

"What happened? Why am I in the hospital?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"We got called to a domestic in the Bitterman projects."

"The perp had a gun. After shooting his wife, he shot you, twice. Once in the thigh, and again in the shoulder. According to the doctor, the bullet almost sliced completely through your femoral artery. You had a lot of nerve and muscle damage in both places. She said it could be at least 3 months until you can even think about going back to work."

"Was I ever close to dying?"

"Yeah, you flatlined twice. Once in the bus and again during surgery."

"Oh." Eddie said, at loss for words.

"Mama?" Josie asked sleepily, as she woke up.

"Hi baby." Eddie said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

Josie walked over to her mom, and carefully hugged her.

"Are you ok, Mom?"

"Yeah, baby. I'm ok." Eddie didn't want to scare her daughter.

"When can you come home?"

"Maybe in a few days."

"Why do you have to stay for so long?"

"I have to get more medicine to make me feel better and the doctors have to make sure I'm ok."

"I want to go home."

"Ok, baby. Maybe you're aunt can take you home. Jamie?"

"Uh, yeah, I think Linda's off by now. I'll go find her." Jamie said, as he walked out of the hospital room.

Jamie found Linda talking to Frank in the waiting room.

"Jamie, how's she doing?" Frank asked.

"She's ok. She's happy that Josie was there when she woke up." Jamie responded.

"How's Josie holding up?" Linda asked.

"She's kinda confused. And tired. Is there anyway you can take her home? And stay with her?"

"Sure, I can do that."

"Do think Eddie's up for visitors?" Frank asked.

"Uh, I don't know. She still kinda thinks the family's mad at her. That's why she's never been to any Sunday dinners, even went Josie went."

"I'm not saying that I'm not upset at what she did. She hid your daughter, my granddaughter, for 9 years. I'm not mad, per se."

"So she's right for feeling that way? Then, to answer your question, no, she's not up for visitors."

"Jamie, it's customary for the PC to see a cop, after they've been shot."

"She doesn't want to see you."

Frank sighed. He realized that Jamie was starting to get mad at him.

"Ok. I'll back off."

Jamie turned to Linda. "I'll be back with Josie." And then walked away.

Jamie walked back to Eddie's room.

"Can Linda take her home?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah. Come on Josie, you're aunt's gonna take you home."

"Ok." Josie said as she walked over to Eddie. "Bye mom. I love you."

"Bye baby, mama loves you too." Eddie gave Josie a kiss on her cheek.

Jamie and Josie walked back to the waiting room.

"Hey kiddo. You ready to go home?" Linda asked.

"Yeah." Josie said.

"Bye Jos, I'll see you tomorrow." Jamie said, as he hugged his daughter.

"Bye dad."

Jamie kissed Josie's head, and then waved as she walked away. Jamie then went back to Eddie's room, and sat down in the chair next to the bed.

"I'm surprised your dad hasn't come in yet. Isn't it customary for the PC to visit an officer who's been shot?" Eddie asked.

"It is. I told him I wasn't sure if you wanted visitors. I told him that you thought the family was mad at you. He basically told me he was mad at you without telling me he's mad at you. I told him no."

"I guess I was right to feel that way."

"I really thought they'd be over it by now. It's been like what? Almost 8 months. I'm not mad at you anymore. I'm just happy that I know my amazing daughter now. They should feel the same way, but they're just so fucking stubborn."

"Hmm, stubborn, sounds like someone I know." Eddie said with a slight smile.

"I know I'm stubborn, but not that damn stubborn. I just wish him and my grandfather would get over themselves. You did what you thought was best for Josie, and I'm not holding it against you. They shouldn't either."

"I love you, Jamie. Almost dying today made me realize that even more." Eddie said, as she started getting all watery-eyed.

"I love you too." Jamie said, as he got up and kissed her.

Little did they know, just as Jamie kissed Eddie, Frank walked up to the room, and looked in through the window. He witnessed their sweet moment and then knocked on the door. Jamie pulled back away from Eddie and then told the person to come in.

"How long have you two been dating?" Frank asked as he entered the room.

"Dad, I thought I said she wasn't up for visitors." Jamie said to his father.

"Clearly she's up for visitors." He said, referring to the kiss.

Jamie let a breath out, trying to cool himself down.

"To answer your question, we've been dating for 5 months."

"Did you notify your Sergeant?"

"We were gonna wait until our 6th month anniversary."

"Jamie you should've notified your sergeant a long time ago. Even before you two were dating, you still were emotionally attached because of Josie."

"Dad, why exactly did you come here? I specifically said no visitors." Jamie started to get mad.

"Like I said, it's customary." Frank looked over at Eddie, pushed aside her personal feelings towards her, and then addressed her. "Officer Janko, how're you feeling?"

"I'm fine, sir." Eddie was uncomfortable.

"Did the doctor say anything about your prognosis?"

"I haven't seen the doctor yet. Jamie told me what she said, though."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Nope, I'm all good."

"Alright, get well soon, Officer. And let me know if there's anything I can do."

"Will do."

"Bye, son." Frank said, addressing Jamie again.

"Bye." Jamie said, rather coldly.

Frank finally left, leaving Jamie and Eddie alone again.

"I don't think I'll be going to Sunday dinner this week." Jamie said.

"Why not?" Eddie asked.

"That's why not. He's mad at me and I'm mad at him. If he feels this way, then surely my grandfather feels the same. Plus, I need to help take care of you."

"You're so sweet Jamie. I love you."

"I love you too."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Eddie had been released from the hospital 3 days after the shooting. Getting her home was a bit of a challenge. Her left arm was in a sling, and her right leg was wrapped in thick bandages. She was forced to use a crutch to walk, but that was difficult seeing as her other arm was immobile. The car ride was painful, and it seemed as if Jamie hit every pothole in the entire city of New York. When they finally got home, Eddie took a 3 hour nap, exhausted from the day.

When she woke up, she was greeted by the lovely smell of food. She got out of bed, grabbed her crutch, and then hobbled over to the kitchen. She found Jamie slaving over to stove.

"Whatcha makin'?" Eddie asked.

"Oh, you're awake." Jamie said, slightly startled. "I'm making salmon."

"Yummy. Where's Jos?"

"She's with my grandfather. He said he wanted to spend the day with her. He should have her back soon."

"Ok. This might sound absolutely crazy, but getting shot made me think about a lot of things. It made me think about my future and what I want out of it." She paused, trying to read Jamie's face. "Getting shot made me realize I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to have more kids with you. I want us to get married. I want us to grow old together."

"Eddie, I want all of that for us too. I think I knew that I wanted all of that with you even back when we were kids in high school. Actually, I have something that's related to this. I'll be right back."

Jamie disappeared into their bedroom, and came back a few moments later, with her hand behind his back.

"You might want to sit down."

Eddie did as she was told and hobbled over to the dining room table and took a seat. Jamie then pulled his hand from behind his back, revealing a red velvet box. He then got down on one knee in front of Eddie.

"I know we've only been dating again for 5 months, and I know it's really early, but I've known this since the day I met you. I love you and our daughter more than life itself. I want to spend every moment I have left on this earth with you. I want us to have many more babies, and I want us to raise those babies and grow old together. I love you with all of my heart, so would you do me the honor of marrying me?"

Eddie eyes had begun filling with tears the moment she saw the box, and now she was full on sobbing. She couldn't talk so she simply nodded her head and held out her hand. Jamie opened the box, and slid the ring onto her finger. Even through her tears, she could tell how beautiful the ring was. It was a simple band with one stone in the middle, and smaller stones on the band. It was silver. The diamonds were so beautiful.

"Look at the inside." Jamie said.

Eddie carefully took the ring off and saw the inscription. '12 David.' At that, Eddie cried even harder.

Jamie quickly got up and gave her a hug. He wanted her to stop crying. He kissed her cheek, and rubbed small circles on her back. Slowly but surely, she stopped crying.

"I love you so much, Jameson Reagan. I'm so happy that I'm marrying you." She said, once she knew her voice was back to normal.

"I love you too, soon-to-be Mrs. Edit Reagan."

At that, Eddie leaned in for one of the most passion filled kisses she'd ever given Jamie.

The pair got to stay in the engagement bliss for only a few moments more, until Jamie remembered the salmon on the stove. He quickly hopped up and went back to the stove, and was surprised to see that the salmon wasn't burnt yet. Jamie turned off the burner, and then plated the salmon along with the rice. He brought the two plates over to the table, an placed on in front of Eddie, and the other at his place.

They ate quickly, and then shared a little make out session on the couch, before they were interrupted by a knock at the door. Jamie got up from the couch, and opened the door.

"Hey Jos. Hey pop." Jamie said, as he hugged his daughter. "Where'd you go?"

"We went to the aquarium and then the park. We got pizza for dinner." Henry answered.

"Did you have fun?" Jamie asked Josie.

"Yeah."

Josie scampered into the apartment, giving Henry and Jamie a chance to talk.

"Francis told me what happened with Eddie. How is she feeling?"

"Do you really care? Dad made it clear that you two are still mad at her, so I really don't think you care how she's doing." Jamie said, rather coldly.

"Jamie, of course I'm mad. She kept your daughter away from you and away from her family. Anyone would be mad at that. That doesn't mean I'm not gonna care when she's shot. She is the mother of your child, after all."

"I'm not mad at her and you shouldn't be either. It's not your place to be mad." And with that, Jamie closed the door, not allowing Henry to say anything else.

"What did he say?" Eddie asked Jamie from her place on the couch.

"He wanted to know how you're doing. I asked him why he cared because both him and my dad are still mad at you. I basically told him to fuck off without telling him to fuck off." Jamie vented.

"Is our relationship gonna ruin your relationship with your family?"

"Eddie, no. God, no. My family will get over themselves. I love you, and I will standup for you, even if I'm defending you against my family." He reassured.

"Ok." She said with a sigh.

"Where did Jos go?"

"She went to take a shower. When do you want to tell her we're engaged?"

"Well, they say there's no time like the present. We should tell her when she gets out of the shower."

"Ok."

Jamie sat back down on the couch and they picked up right where they left off. Even though they didn't want to, they stopped when things started to get a little too steamy. They settled on cuddling and Jamie turned on some random movie on tv.

After about 20 minutes, Josie walked out of the bathroom with her hair in a towel and dressed in pajamas.

"Hey Jos, dad and I have something to tell you." Eddie said, as she patted the spot on the couch that was in between her and Jamie.

Josie happily sat down in between her parents. "Am I gonna be a big sister?" She asked.

"Not yet, baby, but maybe one day. Today while you were with Pop, I asked your mom to marry me. She said yes. We're getting married, just like you predicted." Jamie said, looking down at his daughter, with a smile on his face.

"Really?" She asked, her smile growing.

"Yeah, really. See." Eddie said, as she showed Josie the ring on her finger.

Josie stared at the ring and then looked up at Eddie. "Can I be the flower girl?"

"Actually, you're gonna be something better. I want you to be my maid of honor."

"But who's gonna be the flower girl?"

"I'm not sure yet, but we'll figure it out."

The conversation continued for a little while, until Josie started falling asleep. Jamie carefully pick her up and then tucked her in bed. He went back out to the living room to find Eddie still sitting on the couch.

"Jamie, are you sure your family will get over it? I mean what if they don't? I don't want to be the reason you're not invited to Sunday dinners anymore, or the reason they don't come to your wedding." Eddie was rambling slightly.

"Eddie, baby, it'll be ok. It's probably like a rule somewhere that you can't not invite a Reagan to a Sunday dinner." Jamie joked.

"Jamie, it's not funny. I'm being serious. And what if they are mad at me forever? What am supposed to do at the wedding? Or when we have more kids? Am I just supposed to not show up so your family can enjoy it?"

"Eddie, they're not gonna be mad forever. They'll get over it. And if they don't, then they don't have to go. They can see the wedding pictures later if they're gonna be like that. And if it's any consolation, Danny, Linda, the boys, Nicky, and Erin aren't mad at you. It's just my dad and Pop."

"I guess that does make me feel a little better. But I still feel bad. I know what I did was wrong, and I know I shouldn't have done it, but it's not like I can change the past. Why do they have to hold it against me? Do you still hold it against me?"

"No, I don't. I forgave you a long time ago. If I still held it against you, I wouldn't have asked you to marry me. And honestly, I don't know why they still hold it against you."

"I just wish I could somehow get them to like me."

"Maybe you could apologize to them. I know they probably don't deserve an apology, but that is one way you could get that to stop being mad. You can come with me and Jos to Sunday dinner and you could apologize. I'm not saying it'll fix everything, but it might help."

Eddie thought about that for a few moments before answering. "If you think it'll help, then I'll swallow my pride and do it."

"Ok. If you want to make them less mad, going to Mass wouldn't hurt either."

"Ok. I'll go."

"Ok. Now, let's go to bed. I'm tired."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Sunday came way too quickly, and the nerves started to hit Eddie as she was getting ready for Mass.

"Jamie, what if me going to mass and Sunday dinner makes them even madder? What then?"

"Eddie, why would this make them more mad at you? It's not like we're gonna announce that you're pregnant. And we're not gonna tell them about the engagement." Jamie analyzed Eddie face and then quickly spoke again. "You're not pregnant, right?"

"Jamie, I'm not pregnant. I'm pretty sure the hospital did a pregnancy test. They would've told us if I was."

"Ok, just making sure. I can only handle having to tell one big announcement at a time."

"Ideally, I want to wait until after we get married to start thinking about more kids. I know one baby out of wedlock is a big no-no. I can't imagine how big two babies out of wedlock would be."

"Me either, and I don't really want to."

The pair continued getting ready, and Eddie dropped the conversation. She was still extremely nervous, but she decided to keep it to herself.

"Mom, can you braid my hair?" Josie asked, as she went strolling into Jamie and Eddie's bedroom.

"Baby, I'm sorry, but I can't. I have to use both my arms to braid and I can't." Eddie told her daughter, genuinely sorry. She knew that these moments with her daughter wanting her mother to do her hair were limited.

"Dad? Can you braid my hair?" Josie asked, turning to Jamie.

"Uh, I guess I can try. I haven't done this in a long time and I didn't do it very well." Jamie confessed.

"Who's hair did you braid?" Josie asked, as she sat down at the vanity and handed Jamie the brush.

"When Nicky was younger, I used to practice braiding on her hair, you know, in case I ever had a daughter. Your aunt Erin was the one who taught me how to braid. I used to be able to do all kinds, but now I only remember regular and fishtail. So, how do you want me to do it?"

"I want a half up, half down with a fishtail."

"Um, how do I do that?"

Eddie quickly explained how to do it, and then sat back and watched the adorable father-daughter bonding. When Jamie was done, Eddie was actually impressed. He did better than she thought he would do.

"We should probably get going. I really don't want to be late." Eddie said, as they finished up breakfast.

"I mean, it's still kinda early. We're gonna get their like 30 minutes early." Jamie reasoned.

"Jamie, please just humor me. Being late will make me more nervous than I already am. I'd rather be early than late." Eddie said, not really leaving any room to argue.

"Ok. Come on, Jos, time to go."

The family was out the door and on their way to Bayridge within 5 minutes.

Just like Jamie had predicted, they were about 30 minutes early to church. To kill time, they made small talk with some other early birds. After about 15 minutes, the first of the other Reagans showed up.

"Hey, little bro. I see you brought someone special today." Danny said, as he greeted Jamie.

"Yeah, she's gonna try to apologize to dad and Pop so that they'll stop holding their grudge. Hopefully it works." Jamie answered.

"So, how're you feeling?" Danny asked, turning to Eddie.

"I'm fine." Eddie said simply, still not too sure on where Danny stood with her.

"How long will you have to wear a sling and use a crutch?"

"I'm not really sure."

"Hey, Eddie, I know you probably think that the whole family hates you, but that's not true. Just so you know, I'm not mad at you. I told you that. That hasn't changed."

"I know, I'm just kinda nervous. I just want you all to not be mad anymore. I know what I did was wrong, but I can't change the past. I would if I could, but I can't."

"I know that, and that's why I'm not holding it against you."

"Thank you."

Erin and Nicky were the next Reagans to arrive, and just like with Danny, her reason for being there was explained.

Of course, the last to arrive were Frank and Henry, and the nerves were written all over Eddie's face. Luckily, the mass started soon after they arrived so the conversation would have to wait.

"That was a nice service." Eddie said, as her, Jamie, and Josie drove to the Reagan family home.

"Yeah. Did you like it? Would you be willing to come more often?" Jamie asked.

"I mean, if we're getting married, I don't really have a choice."

"Eddie, there will always be a choice. I'm not just gonna force Catholicism down your throat if you don't want to practice it. Would I like it if you came to mass on Sundays? Yeah. Am I gonna expect you to go? No, of course not."

"I'll think about. Right now, I just need to get through this apology."

As they got closer and closer to the house, Eddie's stomach began doing more and more flips.

"Oh my god, Jamie, I feel like I'm gonna throw up. I'm so nervous." Eddie said, as they approached the house.

"Please don't throw up. Then they'll think you're pregnant." Jamie really didn't want his family to think she was making amends because of an impending baby.

"Jamie, I don't think I can do this."

"Eddie, you can do this. You'll be fine. Everything will be fine. Now, we should probably go in."

"Ok." Eddie took in a few deep breaths to try and help calm her nerves. Once she'd prepared herself, she got out of the car and slowly followed Jamie.

When they entered through the kitchen entrance, they were greeted by Linda and Jack who were in the kitchen.

"Hey. How're you doing?" Linda asked Eddie.

"I'm fine." She'd given the same answer to Danny.

"So, what brings you to your first Reagan Sunday dinner?" Jack asked, trying to sound polite while still being curious.

"Well, technically it's not my first Reagan Sunday dinner. You're Uncle Jamie and I actually first met in high school. I stayed here for a few weeks while my parents were out of town." Eddie explained.

"Really? I didn't know that."

Jack seemed to be satisfied with that answer.

Dinner was ready within an hour, and everyone sat down. The table was rather quiet, and a sense of awkwardness hung in the air. Eddie didn't really eat anything. She mostly just sat there, staring off. She was too nervous to eat. After everyone finished, Eddie made the excuse that she was going to help Jamie wash and dry the dishes, but really she was just stalling.

She realized after the dishes were done, she couldn't stall any further.

"It'll be fine, babe." Jamie reassured, as he placed a sweet kiss on Eddie's forehead.

"I hope so." Eddie said with a sigh.

She left the kitchen and walked into the living room, to find Frank and Henry sitting in their usual spots.

"Can I, um, have a moment of your time?" Eddie asked, looking at Frank and Henry.

Frank took in a deep breath, as if he was contemplating, and then answered Eddie's question.

"Sure."

"I just want to apologize for everything that I did. At the time, I was a stupid kid. I was 19 and alone, with this tiny human who depended on me for everything. I was so stubborn, and I didn't want to ask for help. And I was terrified. I was terrified of how badly this would mess up my life, and I was I was terrified of what Jamie would do if I told him. I knew, or I thought I knew, that because of Jamie's Catholic background he wouldn't help me with the baby, because of how much of a sin a baby of of wedlock is. I didn't want to ruin his life, so I just kept her a secret. Now that I've seen how good of a father Jamie is, I realized that what I did was wrong. It was wrong of me to keep Josie a secret from her own family. I'm so sorry. I hope you can forgive me." Eddie said as sincerely as possible.

Frank and Henry remained silent for a few moments, taken in everything they'd just heard. Henry spoke up.

"I understand that you were young and scared, and I accept your apology, but I don't think I'm ready to forgive you. Frankly, what you did is unforgivable."

"Eddie, you kept my granddaughter away from me, for 9 years. You kept her away from her own father. It wasn't your right to decide what Jamie's choice would be. I don't think I can forgive you."

With tears welling in her eyes, she was only able to get out one word. "Oh." She then hobbled back in the kitchen, and found Jamie sitting at the table with a glass of Scotch. Eddie sat down across from him and let her tears fall.

"What happened?" Jamie asked as stroked Eddie's arm.

Eddie took in a few deep breaths, wiped her eyes, and then spoke.

"I explained everything to them, and they said what I did is unforgivable. They said they'd never forgive me."

Jamie furrowed his brow and sighed. Why the hell were they being so damn stubborn?

"I'll be right back." Jamie said as he down the rest of the Scotch and got up from his seat.

He walked into the living, and addressed his father and grandfather.

Eddie could only hear muffled words, and almost as quickly as he went in, he came back out to the kitchen.

"I think it's time for us to. I'll go get Josie." Jamie said.

Jamie went to the backyard and got Josie. Soon, the family of three was in their car, driving back to Brooklyn Heights.

They quickly got back home, and Josie to her room, while Jamie and Eddie went to their's.

"What did you say to them?" Eddie asked, referring the Jamie's short conversation with Frank and Henry.

"I told them that I was gonna take a little break from Sunday dinners for awhile. I also told them that they don't have a right to be mad at you." Jamie answered.

"Jamie, you didn't have to do that. I really don't want our relationship to ruin your relationship with your family." Eddie said, trying to make Jamie change his mind.

"Eddie, I didn't necessarily make this decision because of what they said to you. I'm just tired of their stubbornness. I'm not gonna deal with it anymore."

"Jamie, I think I'm gonna take Josie and stay with my mom for a little while. I think we might've gone into this whole thing too quickly. I don't want to be the reason you become estranged from your family, or the reason your family beings to make Josie feel unwelcome."

"Where did this come from? I thought you agreed it wasn't too quick. I thought you wanted all of this too."

"I love you, and I want to have a life with you, but I just need some time to think. I just need some time to myself. I'm so sorry I'm doing this to you. If you don't want me to take Josie, then I won't." Eddie was starting to feel the tears again.

"Eddie, I'm not mad at you. I get it. You just got shot. I understand why you want time to think. And I think it would be best if you took Josie with you. I really can't take care of her by myself and work at the same time."

Eddie responded to Jamie with a passionate kiss. One thing led to another, and the ended up tangled in the sheets.

"I promise I won't be gone for too long. I just really need this time." Eddie reassured.

"Take as much time as you. I understand."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Eddie had been wrong. She told Jamie she wouldn't be gone for too long, but she'd been gone for nearly 2 months. She and Josie had stayed in a hotel for a few weeks, while Eddie's mom was in Hawaii. Once she'd gotten back to NYC, they stayed with her.

One morning, about 7 weeks after Eddie and Josie had temporarily moved out, Eddie woke up with an extreme feeling of nausea. She was sent over the edge when she smelt the eggs the cook was making for breakfast. She rushed to the bathroom and threw up the little she had in her stomach. Once she was sure she was done, she reluctantly walked out to the large living room, to find her mother and daughter on the couch together. Lena was showing her granddaughter a family photo album.

"Look who finally woke up." Lena said, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Good morning to you too." Eddie said, slightly annoyed with her mother's poor excuse for a greeting.

"God, Edit, you look like death warmed over. Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes, mom, I'm fine. It's probably just a little stomach bug, nothing to worry about. Now, how're you doing this morning, Jos?" Eddie asked, trying her attention to her daughter.

"I'm good. Grandma was showing me these pictures." Josie responded.

"Nothing too bad, I hope." Eddie said, looking at her mom. Lena had a record for showing embarrassing, and even inappropriate photos.

"Relax, Edit. It's all age appropriate."

Eddie watched her mom and daughter interact a little more, before going back to her room. She laid back down, hoping to get the nausea to go away. If she was being perfectly honest with her, she was pretty sure she knew why she was nauseous. She'd missed her period that month, and she'd been crazy tired in the past few weeks. Now she had an aversion to certain smells, and was nauseous, and she was strangely craving Ketchup.

She thought back to the last time she and Jamie were together. They'd had sex, and they were just so caught up in the moment, they'd forgotten to use a condom. Eddie was normally religious about taking her birth control ever since she and Jamie had gotten back together, but since she'd hadn't been able to take it in the hospital, she'd kinda forgotten about it.

She was pregnant, no doubt about it.

Oh god. How am I gonna tell Jamie? What if he doesn't want this baby? What if he leaves? These thoughts and ones like them roamed around in Eddie's mind.

It was because of these thoughts that Eddie and Josie had stayed another week at Lena's house. Eddie had only decided to go back when her boss started calling her, saying she was due to go back on desk duty soon. So, after 2 months away from home, Eddie and Josie finally packed up everything and headed back to their apartment in Brooklyn Heights.

When they arrived back at the apartment, it was discovered that Jamie wasn't home. Eddie and Josie started unpacking their things, and Eddie started a load of laundry.

"Mom, can we go to the zoo?" Josie asked.

"Uh, sure. I guess the laundry can wait. Let's go." Eddie said as she gathered her things, and the two were off.

They spent several hours at the zoo, and then went to a nearby mall. By the time they got back home, it was Josie's bed time, so she quickly took a shower and then tucked herself into bed. Jamie got back home around 9:45.

"Hi." Eddie greeted, not knowing what else to say.

Jamie said nothing as he entered the apartment, took off his shoes and jacket, and even went into the bedroom to change into some more comfortable clothes. He then walked back out to the kitchen, poured himself a glass of Scotch, and then finally sat down in the chair across from the couch from where Eddie was sitting.

"So, you're gone for two whole months, and all you're gonna say is 'Hi.' Are you serious?" Jamie asked, coldly.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I just don't even know where to begin."

"Just start at the beginning."

"Ok." Eddie took in a deep breath and then began. "So, as I told you when I left, I needed some space. I felt like we rushed into things too quickly. After these two months, my love for you hasn't withered. I'm still in love with you, and I still want to marry you."

"You know I won't be mad if you say we should wait awhile to get married, right?"

"Yeah, I know. And we will have to wait awhile. About 7 months." She was trying to hint at something without really saying it.

"What? Why? Why 7 months."

"Because I don't want to look fat in my wedding dress." Come on, Jamie.

"Why? Oh! Are you serious?" He was finally starting to catch on.

"Yeah." She said with a watery smile, as she placed her hand where the baby was growing.

"Oh my god! We're having a baby!"

"Ssh, don't say it too loud. Josie doesn't know yet."

"Holy crap, we're having a baby." Jamie was beyond excited. He hadn't gotten to experience this part with Josie, so this was all new to him.

He moved over to the couch with Eddie, and finally gave her a long awaited kiss, full of passion and excitement. They ended up celebrating their new baby that night, because, hey, it's not like they can make another baby.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

A few more months went buy, and nothing really happened. Eddie was getting through her pregnancy with a fair amount of ease. She'd been put on desk duty when she went back to work, and was doing some light physical therapy to help gain her strength back for when she did walk the beat again. Jamie had limited his Sunday dinners to twice a month, saving the other 2 or 3 Sundays to either work or spend time with Eddie and Josie.

Things in their lives had been going pretty well.

They'd even gotten secretly married. They'd gone down to the courthouse and became husband and wife.

_*flashback*_

_"Eddie, how crazy would it be if we just got married right now?" Jamie said one day, as they laid in bed together after nightshift._

_"Haha, very funny Jamie." Eddie said, thinking Jamie was joking._

_"Eddie, I'm not joking. I'm being completely serious."_

_"Jamie, I thought we had agreed that we were gonna wait until the baby came to get married. I'm really not up for planning a wedding and getting married when I'm huge, and sore, and emotional."_

_"Eddie, I know that's what we'd discussed, and we can still have a formal wedding like that after the baby's born, but at this point, my relationship with my family is strained. I don't want to wait for them to get over their stubbornness to be able to marry you. I want to marry you now. I want to go down to the courthouse, profess our love for each other and devotion to each other, because we want to. I'm so tired of always doing what my family wants me to do. They think that because I'm the baby, I have to automatically listen to what they say. I'm done. No more. So, Edit Marie Janko, will you elope with me?"_

_At this point, Eddie had tears in her eyes._

_"Oh, Jamie. I love you so much. I would be happy to elope with you."_

_After spending some more time in bed, celebrating, the couple got dressed in some nice dress clothes, and went down to the courthouse._

_"Do you have your own vows, or would you like to use the regular ones?" The judge asked._

_"We have our own vows." Eddie said, smiling at Jamie._

_"Eddie, I know this is cliché, but from the minute I laid my eyes on you, I knew I was gonna have a life with you. I knew I wanted to marry you, and have kids with you, and grow old with you. Even though we did those things a little out of order, my original feelings never changed. You are my best friend, my biggest cheerleader, my better half, and the love of my life. You are you best thing that's ever happened to me. I love you."_

_By the time Jamie was finished, Eddie was bawling her eyes out, ruining what little makeup she had on. After taking a few moments to regain her composure, she started reciting her vows._

_"I know things with our relationship started off rough. I'm so truly sorry. I'm so extremely lucky that you forgave me and gave me a second chance. Without that second chance, we wouldn't be here, getting married, a second baby on the way. Truth is, Jameson Reagan, I am wholly and completely in love with you. You're my best friend, the father of my children, the love of my life. You are the best part of me, and I love you."_

_Jamie, too, now had tears in his eyes._

_"Alright. Do you, Jameson Reagan, take Edit Marie Janko to be your lawfully wedded wife? For better or worse, to cherish and to love, in sickness and in health, till death do you part." The judge asked Jamie._

_"I do." Jamie said, slipping on Eddie's stunning wedding ring._

_"And do you, Edit Marie Janko, take Jameson Reagan to be your lawfully wedded husband? For better or worse, to cherish and to love, in sickness and in health, till death do you part."_

_"I do." Eddie said, slipping Jamie's wedding ring on his finger._

_"By the power vested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."_

_And Jamie definitely did. He dipped Eddie, kissed her, brought her back up, and then kissed her again._

_"Congratulations, you two. I wish you best of luck." The judge said._

_The newly married couple made their way out of the courthouse, and back to their car._

_"Jamie. We're married!" Eddie exclaimed, as if it was just hitting her._

_"Yes we are. I love you so much, Mrs Janko-Reagan."_

_"I love you too, Mr. Janko-Reagan."_

_Eddie had convinced him to change his last name so they would have the same last name. He'd been hesitant at first, but eventually decided to do it._

_The couple drove back home, and luckily Josie still had about an hour and a half until she got out of school. That meant the Eddie and Jamie had about an hour and a half to celebrate._

_And celebrate they did._

_When Josie got home, they were a little nervous to tell her._

_"Hey Jos, how was you're day?" Eddie asked, as the babysitter dropped Josie off from school._

_"It was good. We had cupcakes for a kid in my class named Taylor's birthday." Josie said, as she sat down on the couch._

_"That's good. Well, your dad and I have something we want to tell you."_

_"Did you find out what the baby is? Am I gonna have a sister?"_

_"No, Jos. We don't know what the baby is yet. We're gonna until it's born to find out." Jamie spoke up._

_"Then what?"_

_Eddie and Jamie both held up they'd left hands for Josie to see._

_"We got married." Eddie said, trying to find her daughter's reaction on her face._

_"Really? But I thought you were gonna have a big wedding. I thought I was gonna be your maid of honor." Josie said, looking a little disappointed._

_"Baby, you can still be my maid of honor. What your dad and I did was go down to city hall and sign a piece of paper that's recognized by the state and says that we're married. We'll have an actual wedding after the baby's born."_

_"Mom, When is the baby coming?"_

_"The baby's coming in a little less than 4 months."_

_"That's soooo long." She exaggerated._

_"I know, but it'll go fast. Before you know it, you'll get to hold your little brother or sister."_

_*end flashback*_


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

By month 8, Eddie had finally started making amends with Jamie's family.

"Jamie, please don't make me go. I'm really not feeling well. Your child is giving me major heartburn and my back is killing me." Eddie complained, rubbing a hand over her large bump. The baby kicked her hand, as if saying 'you're welcome.'

"Eddie, please. I promise I'll get you whatever you want to eat when we're on our way home. My dad said he wanted to talk to you. He said he wants to apologize." Jamie begged.

Eddie took in a deep breath, and thought about what Jamie had told her for a few moments.

"Fine, I'll go. But if I don't like the apology, we're leaving."

"Ok. Deal."

The family of three quickly got ready and headed off to Bayridge. Jamie had opted to skip mass, so they were fighting with the beginnings of rush hour traffic. After nearly an hour and a half of driving, they made it to Bayridge.

"Hi. Sorry we're late." Jamie said as he entered through the kitchen entrance.

"It's ok. We've only been waiting about 5 minutes." Henry said.

"Jack, can you get me another place setting?" Jamie asked.

Jack got up and went into the kitchen. Jamie picked up an extra chair and slid it in between his and Erin's.

"Are we expecting someone else?" Frank asked, slightly confused.

"Yep."

Jamie went into the kitchen, and found Eddie and Josie standing there, waiting for him. He grabbed Eddie's hand and led her and Josie out to the dining room.

"Hey, Eddie." Nicky said, in her usual cheery tone.

Josie sat down in her usual spot, while Jamie helped Eddie sit down. He then sat down himself, and waited for everyone's response.

"Hey Eddie, how're you doing?" Danny asked.

"I'm good." She said quietly.

"You're glowing. How far along are you?" Erin asked.

"A little over 8 months. Actually, 34 weeks tomorrow."

"Wow, really soon."

Eddie simply nodded.

The family said grace, and then began eating. They conversation was kept pretty light throughout dinner, which was pretty rare for the Reagan bunch. Linda and Sean cleared and cleaned, while Jack, Nicky, and Josie went to the backyard. Danny, Erin, and Jamie went into the living room and watched whatever game was on. Henry and Frank went into the sitting room and sat in their normal chairs. After a brief pep talk with Jamie, Eddie too went into the sitting room.

"Jamie said you invited me here to apologize." Eddie said, looking back and forth between the two men.

"We did." Frank said.

"Well." Eddie was growing slightly impatient.

"It was wrong of us to do and say what we did. We were being stubborn about the fact you didn't tell anyone about Josie. We just didn't understand why you did it. We realized, now, that it doesn't matter why you did what you did. We should've just accepted it from the beginning. We are truly sorry." Henry said, sincerely.

Eddie took a few moments to mull over what she'd just heard before she responded.

"I hear your apology, and I accept it, but I don't think I'm ready to forgive you yet. You held something against that you had no right to. What I did was between Jamie and I. I understand that you were upset, but you shouldn't have done this to me, Jamie, or our daughter."

"Will you ever forgive us?"

"I don't know." And with that, Eddie left them room, and sat with Jamie in the living room.

"How did it go?" Jamie whispered into Eddie's ear.

"It went." She responded, shortly.

They finished watching the game in silence, and then started getting ready to leave after it was over.

"So I'm assuming it didn't go well." Jamie said, as him, Eddie, and Josie made their journey back home. Josie had fallen asleep in the backseat.

"It didn't go terribly. Their apology didn't exactly sound sincere but I'm assuming that's as sincere as I'm gonna get."

"I'm sorry. I really thought you'd like their apology."

"What made you think I'd like their apology? They waited so long, and now, what? They just apologize out of the blue? I'm assuming you threatened them. What did you tell them? If they didn't apologize, you wouldn't come to Sunday dinner?"

Jamie sighed. Damn, he knew her too well.

"Well, I did threaten that at first, but it wasn't strong enough. Then I said if they didn't apologize, they wouldn't be able to see the baby. Then they started coming around."

"Jamie!" Eddie exclaimed, as she lightly hit his chest with the back of her hand.

"I was tired of the the most important people in my life not getting along. I figured it I could do something to help, I should."

"Well, I'm really sure how much it helped. If I go to dinner next week, it's gonna be tense."

"Yeah, I know." Jamie pauses for a few moments before speaking again. "So, I promised you food. What do you want?"

"Right now, nothing. This little one is kicking my stomach." Eddie said, as she stared down at her bump, and ran her hand over the area where the baby's feet were.

"Do you wanna pick up anything for later?"

"No, let's just go home. Jos has school tomorrow, and I want to get her home."

"Ok."

The small family made their way home. Jamie carried Josie to bed, not waking her at all. Eddie started getting ready for bed while Jamie tucked Josie in. Once he walked into their bedroom, he found Eddie staring at her bump in the mirror.

"Is something wrong?" Jamie asked, as he came up behind her. He placed his hands on top of hers', which were already stationed on each side of the bump.

"No, I'm just still trying to get my head around this. Us. I mean, how did I get so lucky? I have an amazing daughter, and baby on the way, with the best guy in the world, who just so happens to be my husband.

"I know, I am pretty great." At that, Eddie laughed. "But seriously, I ask myself that same question everyday."

"I love you."

Jamie wrapped his arms tighter around Eddie.

"I love you too."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

3 weeks had passed since the apology, and dinner had still been tense.

"So, have you two thought of any names yet?" Linda asked?

"Not really. We're kinda behind on a lot of stuff." Jamie admitted.

"You're 37 weeks, right?" Erin asked.

Eddie simply nodded.

"Well, if the baby's a boy, you can have some of Sean's old clothes. We kept some of them."

"And if the baby's a girl, you can have some of Nicky's old clothes."

"We appreciate the offer, but I think we already have plenty of clothes." Jamie told everyone.

"How? What color did you buy them in?" Sean asked.

"Gender neutral colors. Yellows and grays mostly."

"Oh."

The conversation lulled for awhile after that. No one said anything. The only sound that was heard was the scraping of plates by forks and knives.

Dinner ended promptly, and everyone went into their usual areas. As Jamie and Eddie we're watching some game on tv, Eddie started rubbing her stomach.

"Are you ok?" Jamie whispered into her ear.

"Just Braxton Hicks I think."

She slowly rubbed the pain away. About 10 minutes later, it came again. And 10 minutes after that. And 10 minutes after that.

"Do you wanna go home?" Jamie whispered to her again.

Eddie simply nodded her head.

"I think we're gonna head home, guys." Jamie told the other people in the room.

As Eddie stood up, Linda's eyes went right to her stomach.

"Eddie, I think you've dropped."

"Oh, uh, yeah, maybe."

"Are you feeling ok? You look a little pale."

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine. Just tried."

"Ok."

Jamie and Eddie retrieved Josie from the backyard where she, Sean, Jack, and Nicky were.

"Why are we leaving so soon?" Josie asked, as they started their drive.

"Because your mom's not feeling that well." Jamie answered.

"Is the baby ok?"

"Yeah, the baby's fine, sweetheart. I think you'll get to meet your brother or sister soon, though." Eddie answered.

"Really?"

"I mean, it might awhile, but hopefully sometime within the next couple days." Eddie really hoped it didn't take too long. They always say second babies come faster than the first baby. Eddie really hoped that would be true.

"I think it's gonna be girl. What do you think, mom?"

"I'm not really sure. I think it might be a girl, but a boy would be cool."

"I think it's gonna be a boy." Jamie butted in.

"What would we name a boy?" Eddie asked her husband.

"I want to honor Joe in some way. Not necessarily name the baby Jospeh, but maybe as a middle name, or we could use Connor." Connor was Joe's middle name.

"I like Connor. What would his middle name be?"

"I don't know. What were you thinking?"

"Connor Jameson. What do you think?"

"I love it. Now we've picked both names. I can't wait for baby to get here."

"Me either. Hopefully this baby doesn't take their sweet time."

Now they had two potential names for their baby. In reality, they'd already talked about the girl name. They didn't say it in the car because it was a surprise for Josie.

The small family made their way back to their house, and Eddie did some last minute things in preparation for the baby.

"Have your contractions gotten any closer together?" Jamie asked, as Eddie sat down next to him on the couch.

"They've gone from every 10 minutes, then 9, and now they're about every 8." Eddie answered.

"Do you want to go to the hospital yet?"

"Not yet. My doctor told me to go in when my water broke, or when the contractions are 5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute each, for at least an hour. That could be awhile. I think I'm gonna go try to get some sleep. You should too."

Jamie glanced at the clock and saw that it was around 9:30. He turned off the tv, made sure the front door was locked, and then followed Eddie into the bedroom.

"Are you nervous?" Jamie asked, as they changed into their pajamas. For Eddie, that meant one of Jamie's old Harvard t-shirts and some shorts. For Jamie, that meant taking off his pants and shirt, and stripping down to just his boxers.

"I don't know. I am, but not as much as I was with Josie. I can't really explain it. What about you?"

"Yeah, I am. I wasn't there the first time around. I'm nervous to see you in so much pain and knowing there's nothing I can do to help you."

"The pain will be worth it, in the end. We'll have a beautiful baby."

"I know. I'm really excited, as well as nervous."

The couple slowly drifted off to sleep. For Jamie, it was a fairly restful sleep. He dreamt of their child and what he or she would look like. For Eddie, the sleep had been uncomfortable. Her contractions were mild enough that they didn't hurt, but severe enough that they disturbed her sleep. Finally by around 5am, Eddie decided she wasn't going to be able to get much more sleep. Her contractions had gone from 8 minutes apart to 5 minutes over night.

Jamie woke up when he felt Eddie her up out of bed.

"What's wrong?" Jamie asked, sleep still prevalent in his voice.

"I think we might need to leave soon. My contractions are 5 minutes apart but I don't know how long it's been." Eddie explained, rubbing her swollen bump.

"Ok. When do you want to leave?"

Eddie glanced over at the clock on her bedside table. 5:23am.

"Maybe around 6. I want to give it enough time to be sure. I don't want to get there and be sent home."

"Do you want to send Josie to school today?"

Eddie was about to answer when another contraction came. She breathed slow, deep breaths, and slowly the contraction started to go away.

"That was about a minute long."

Eddie simply nodded, breathing out slowly.

"To answer your question, yes. I want to send Josie to school. It could be awhile. I don't want her to miss school when the baby might not even come until after she gets out."

"Ok, I'll call Sammy."

Jamie quickly found Sammy's number in his phone, and thankfully she picked up. Jamie told her that he needed her there immediately, and she said she'd be there within 15-20 minutes.

"Sammy's on her way. Do you need me to do anything?"

"No, everything's packed and in the car."

"Ok. Do you wanna try laying back down and trying to get some more sleep?"

"No. I have this strange urge to just walk around."

"Ok. Well, I'm gonna get a shower."

Jamie went into the bathroom, and started the shower. Eddie went into the bathroom with him, and decided she wanted to take a shower with him. They ended up leaving around 6:30 because they spent a little extra time in the shower.

"So, how long have you been having contractions?" The triage nurses asked. Eddie was laying in the bed, and Jamie was sitting in a chair next to the bed.

"Since around 7:30 last night."

"Do you know if your water's broken?"

"It hasn't."

"Is this your first baby?"

"It's my second, but my first is 9 so it's been awhile."

"Have you had any bleeding?"

"No."

"How far along are you?"

"37 weeks."

"Do you know what you're having?"

"No, we wanted to wait."

"Ok. I'll have the doctor come in soon and check your progression. Sit tight." The nurse patted Eddie's legs gently, in an effort to comfort her, and then left the room.

A doctor came in, checked Eddie's progression, and discovered she was completely effaced, and 7 centimeters dilated. They quickly moved her up to a delivery suite, and started her on IV fluids.

"I know it's been awhile since I first started having contractions, but it feels kinda fast. I mean I expected to come here and them tell me I was only like a 4 or 5. 7 is crazy." Eddie said, shocked at how far she was.

"Well, hopefully we'll meet the baby soon."

And soon it was. After only 30 minutes in the room, Eddie went from 7 to 10. Within and hour of them arriving to the hospital, Eddie was pushing. 4 pushes was all it took to bring their beautiful baby girl into the world.

The first few hours were kind of a blur. The baby was weighed and measured. 8 pounds, 2 ounces, and 19 inches long. She then had her first meal. She latched on like a pro. She then had her first bath, given by a nurse and Jamie in the nursery.

By around noon, things had seemed to calm down. Eddie and Jamie had decided they wanted to pull Josie out of school early. Sammy picked her up and dropped her off at the hospital.

"Oh, mom, she's beautiful." Josie said, as she entered the room and saw the tiny bundle of pink.

"She looks a little bit like you. Do you wanna hold her?" Eddie asked.

Josie simply nodded. She sat down in a chair next to the bed, and Jamie carefully handed her the baby.

"What's her name?" Josie asked, not looking up from her baby sister.

"We took your name suggestion into consideration. We decided to name her Aurora Marie Reagan." Eddie announced proudly.

"Hi little Aurora. I'm your big sister."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"So, what have you decided to call this little one? Henry asked, as he stared down at his newest GG.

The Reagan clan had finally been able to meet their newest member a day after she was born. Her first day of life had been spent with her parents and big sister. They'd begun the bonding process.

"We've decided her name is Aurora Marie Reagan. Josie came up with Aurora and Marie is Eddie's middle name." Jamie announced.

"That's such a pretty name. I think she's growing into it perfectly." Erin said, referring to the fake that Aurora was sleeping and it just so happened she shared a name with Sleeping Beauty.

"Yeah, she's been mostly calm." Eddie said.

The family continued to talk for awhile longer until a doctor came in.

"Good afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Reagan, and clan. I'm one of the hospital's pediatricians. I was wondering if I could check out baby girl. I know I did her first check, yesterday, but I usually like to do at least 3 before they leave." The pediatrician said, rather straightforwardly.

"Uh, sure." Eddie agreed, handing Aurora over to Jamie. "Go with her, Jamie."

"We'll be back." Jamie said, as he kissed the side of Eddie's head.

He left with the baby in hand, following behind the pediatrician.

"Was I the only one who caught that? Mrs. Reagan?" Danny asked, suspiciously.

"It was just a mistake." Eddie lied, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Jamie taught me your lying tells. He said your always fidgeting with your hands. I know your lying." Danny called her out.

Eddie sighed and thought for a few moments.

"I guess there's no time like the present." Eddie took a deep breath before running her next words together. "Jamie and I may or may not have eloped."

Nobody said anything for several moments.

"Is anyone gonna say something?" Eddie asked nervously.

Frank took in a deep breath before responding.

"Why? Why did you two feel the need to elope?"

"Things between us and you guys weren't exactly great. We didn't want to wait any longer. One day, without telling anyone, even Josie, we went to the courthouse and got married. We are still planning to have a ceremony in the church, if that's what you're concerned about."

"When were you planning on telling us?" Erin asked.

"Um, probably at the wedding. I'm not really sure." Eddie looked at each one of them and saw disappointment on every one of their faces. Even Linda, the supportive one, looked disappointed. "I know you all must be mad at us, at me, but this was our decision to make. And don't think I somehow forced him into doing this. Jamie actually suggested the idea first. We both felt like we were ready, and that it was the right thing for us and our family. I also expressed my concerns about having another baby out of wedlock."

"Eddie, I can't speak for everyone else, but I'm not mad. I am happy for, really happy, it's just a shock. Jamie doesn't usually did things this rashly. He always goes by the book on everything. He never wants to step on any toes. It's just had to believe he would do this." Erin explained.

"Well, he did. We love each other, and we just wanted what we thought was best for our family. We didn't mean to step on any toes, or hurt anyone's feelings. We just wanted to make one decision that didn't involve everyone else."

The room went silent from then on. It remained silent until Jamie came back.

"Whoa, why does it fell like I just arrived in Antarctica?" Jamie asked, as he reentered the room.

"They found out about us eloping."

"Oh, that."

Jamie handed Aurora back to Eddie before talking again.

"We were gonna tell you, eventually, after the baby was born. We figured one big thing at a time was enough."

"Eddie explained it to us." Danny said.

"Ok, then why do you all look so disappointed?"

"It's just so unlike you. You're a Boy Scout. You always go by the book." Danny admitted.

"Well, last time I checked, there isn't really a book for the situation Eddie and I were in. No book means no rules to follow." Jamie was getting defensive.

"We're not mad at you, Jamie. We're just shocked. A baby and an elopement is a lot in 24 hours." Erin said.

"Well, we're married. I really don't care if you're shocked. It's not your place to be. We made this decision for the betterment of our family and our relationship. You can either suck it up and expect, or leave."

No one said anything. They couldn't believe Jamie had actually just stood up for himself like that.

"For the record, son, I'm happy for you two. I've realized I can't spend the rest of my life mad at what you did, Eddie. I've forgiven you. I'm happy for you." Frank said, a small smile forming on his lips.

After Frank's admission, the others' soon followed.

Their family was at peace once more.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The wedding occurred six months later. They'd planned a small, simple wedding; less than 50 guests. They recited their vows in front of close family and friends, and then danced to their hearts' content at the reception. They'd chose to serve pizza, as per request of Josie, the picky eater. Aurora was the cutest little flower girl. She'd been rolled down the aisle by Josie, and kind of just threw the petals everywhere.

That day served as a bit of a restart button for the Reagan family. No more fights, no more hatred. Just love and respect.

"I love you so much, Jameson Reagan." Eddie said, as they slowed danced to 'Thinking Out Loud' by Ed Sheeran.

"I love you so much, Edit Reagan. And I love our beautiful daughters." Jamie responded.

"How crazy would it be if I told you I was pregnant again."

Jamie's eyes nearly jumped out of his head.

"Are you for real?"

"Yeah. I found out yesterday. I went for my sixth month checkup, and my doctor told me I was pregnant. I'm only about 4 or 5 weeks, but still."

"Wow. We're gonna have another baby." Jamie said, a bright smile appearing on his face.

"We're gonna have another baby." Eddie repeated, an equally bright smile appearing on her face.

"Well I guess we don't have to worry about a honeymoon baby." Jamie joked.

At that, Eddie laughed.

The rest of the night went off without a hitch. Frank and Henry agreed to watch Josie and Aurora for the might, so Jamie and Eddie could have some alone time.

"You are the best thing that's ever happened to me." Jamie recited from his vows, as he and Eddie laid in bed together.

"And you are the best part of me. I love you." Eddie recited.

"I love you too, and I promise to prove it to you every day we have together."

They shared one last sweet kiss before drifting off to sleep.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

_**Epilogue**_

Jamie and Eddie's third and final baby was another girl, whom they named Tessa Elizabeth Reagan. She was the spitting image of Eddie. She was beautiful.

She'd been a heartbreaker from day one. That did not change when she got her first boyfriend at 15, and proceeded to break his heart after he broke hers. Luckily, she had her big sisters to lean on for support.

Josie had been accepted into Harvard, just like her father. She eventually became the first doctor in the Reagan family. She ended up marrying a fellow doctor, and they adopted 2 kids together. Paisley and Preslee, twin girls from South Africa.

Aurora eventually shortened her name to Ari. She got accepted into UCLA at the ripe old age of 17. She married young. She fell in love with her high school sweetheart, and they got married on Ari's 21st birthday. They only had one biological child, a boy, whom they named Liam. They then adopted 3 more once they were in their thirties. Trent, Tate, and Tyler. Deaf triplet boys from China. Ari and her husband Wes learned sign language and taught the whole family.

Tessa, or Tess as most called her, eventually got married to her high school sweetheart, after a 10 year long relationship. She and her wife, Kelley, adopted twin brother and sister from The Dominican Republic. María and Emmanuel.

Eddie and Jamie, just like they had promised, had grown old together. They watched their kids grow up and have kids of their own. They even witnessed the birth of a great grandchild. Josie's daughter Preslee got pregnant with a baby boy. She'd named him Kyson.

Even on their death beds, they'd looked back at their lives and smiled. They'd made an amazing life together. They were leaving behind amazing children, and amazing grandchildren. Their hearts were so full.


End file.
